Fiber optic panel providing an arbitrary pattern of illumination and method of making same

A method of making a fiber optic panel having a predetermined illumination pattern, comprising the steps:

• forming at least two partial panels, each comprising a loosely spaced array of parallel fibers with a predetermined spacing between centers, said predetermined spacing is equal to at least twice the diameter of a single fiber;
• completely terminating each of the fibers at a respective termination point by removing any tail portion of the fiber upstream from the termination point;
• and
• assembling the thus terminated fibers of the at least two partial panels into a complete panel with at least one fiber termination point of a first partial panel lying immediately adjacent the illuminated portions of two fibers of a second partial panel, assembling step comprising the steps of:
• providing the first partial panel with a reflective adhesive support;
• and
• adhering the second partial panel to the reflective adhesive support with the fibers of the two partial panels intermeshed and with a fully terminated shorter fiber of the second partial panel between two fully terminated longer fibers or the first partial panel.