Flamboyancy

Dimensions: 36" x 60"
Materials: #8-cut wool on linen
Designed by Mildred Sprout and hooked by Jan Winter, Hollywood, California, 2002.
Featured in: Celebration XIII

"Flamboyancy by Mildred Sprout is a pattern I had my eye on for over two years. At first, I thought it had too much of a '70s look, like the 'flower power' daisies I remember from my teens. Finally, I decided that it seemed more like an exploding fireworks display and that was how I would approach it.

As usual, color planning is always my favorite part of making a rug. Since I had just finished an autumn rug in oranges, yellows, and browns, I decided to cool off the palette a little and make a red, blue, and purple rug. I decided to dye and hook all the motifs first and then decide what background I wanted because I had never worked that way before.

The motifs in the rug are really big, some 14” across, so I knew I had to dye lots of textured wool to supplement the commercial plaids, tweeds, and solid fabrics I wanted to use. I also asked Diane Stoffel, my upcoming teacher at Cambria Pines rug camp, to dip-dye three of the focal motifs. I knew they would have to be really long pieces of wool to cover those areas. Sure enough, when I got them they were 30” long!

My favorite part of the rug is the multi-layered aspect of the pattern. By making some of the motifs darker and some lighter and brighter, I tried to make the rug more three-dimensional to highlight the illusion of the motifs overlapping one another. It’s just what I had in mind to create the effect of a fabulous fireworks finale."
- Jan Winter, Celebration Hall of Fame 2018