Gorgonian Coral and Fish

As the coral and the fish are the two main elements - I'll show them first, as they're what I build the rest of the picture around. I'm getting quite an education here, as I cruise the internet looking at images of these beautiful things.

I could only get an "interpretation" of the gorgonian, but this is great art, of course, so one may take liberties. Julia has already informed me that either the coral is a dwarf, or the fish has surpassed the whale shark in size, as these corals grow to be quite large. Oh well. I do like the way the Memory Thread makes coral. The little red polyps are made with Caron Waterlilies in "Chili."

I've used a lot of Thread Gatherer's "Sea Grass" on these ornaments - not because of the name, but because, coincidentally, they are perfect for the effects I want. This green is actually the color "Sea." Again, here I've used Sharon Boggon's variation of a herringbone stitch for grass, which was difficult for me, as I'd practiced on the crazy quilt pieces making nice, regular, symmetric herringbone stitches.

Next, the cobalt blue starfish was added - I had to have another one of these! This one is made with DMC Satin Floss. It's amazing how the addition of each element of the pattern makes it come more alive!

The third photo shows the additions beginning of the little critters and things lying around in the sand. I used an overdyed thread for the little orange thing, as well as for the French Knot critters in yellow and orange. These are what I call the "generic" marine creatures. I always take a look through my picture files before doing this, as I get images imprinted in my mind that makes it easier to come up with arrangements and shapes - and colors. Again, Sea Grass is used for the lime green things.

It isn't finished, but almost - I get tired visually at this point, and have to put it away, as the tendency is to overdo the "decoration" and clutter it.

The sea weed is another variation of herringbone stitch, and is made with DMC Satin floss. On the far left, the little plant was made with perle cotton in chain stitch. (I saw this in an underwater picture, and couldn't resist).

The beads will be the last thing to add - and I did get the size 11, so I can have a bit of variation in size on the bubbles.