I recently started hooking the large tabs around the sides of my Parlor Rug.  At first I thought the soft plaid that I used in the center medallion would be a nice fill for the center of the tabs, carrying that color out to the edges.  However, I cannot emphasize enough that when you are working on a large rug, one needs to get it off the frame, lay it on the floor, and take a good look at the hooking.  What I thought was a good idea was more of a failure.  I felt that the soft plaid was too soft and didn’t create a place for my eye to rest, to say “stop, this is the end.”  It seemed like the border of the rug just faded away into nothingness.  What to do?

I decided that I didn’t want to use any more gold, the center is quite enough.  And I didn’t want to add too much turquoise to the edges because it is playing an important part in the middle too….so I decided to keep just the one strip of turquoise in the tab and fill with the deeper red that was also used in the center medallion.  The red stands out more than the soft plaid and it also tells my eye “here is the edge. We’re done.”  I’m working on a few more tabs with the new color plan and then I’ll throw the whole thing back down on the floor to reevaluate.  But I think that the second try is the charm.

I’m starting to fill in the background as I hook along.  I love hooking background!  And I love this background.  It’s dark but full of subtle color.  So I’m going to keep chugging along…..