Pansy Runner Rug in progress

This is a rug that I started at least 5 years ago in a workshop with Jeanne Benjamin. It was my second attempt at shading only this time I wanted to go with a wider cut, #6. I'm very happy with the pansies but the shaded leaves were not good. This is why it's been sitting for so long. Every so often I drag it out, try to fix the leaves, get discouraged and then put it away.

One evening while skimming Jane Olsen's Rug Hooking Bible I noticed most of the leaves in the book were shaded with dip dye. First thing next morning out came the dye pots and from my first attempt came a lovely dip dyed shade of green by combining 2 of Emma Lou's formulas. I started hooking the leaves on the left side as they were the only 4 that had not been hooked yet.

It looked so much better so I started ripping out the others and left only the leaves on the far right pansy and took a photo. They have since been ripped out and new leaves are in place!

A few more days and maybe I'll get this rug finished! If you click on the image you'll get a much better look at the leaves.

I'll post it when the time comes. By the way, the small Red/Pink Rose at the right side was my first attempt at shading....my teacher gave me an A+.