A Gannet Family Album

Here is my latest - inspired by my visit to the gannet colony on Ile Bonaventure in the Gaspe.    I decided to use pigma pen and my new water soluble pencil crayons to draw and colour in my gannets doing all the things that gannets do (see previous post of gannet photos and info).     Then I hand-stitched them on a watery background and embroidered on each 'photo'.   It seemed appropriate to call it "A Gannet Family Album".     I love these new Caran d'ache pencil crayons.   I have already fallen in love with their watercolour crayons but the pencil crayons allow me to be more precise and put just the right amount of colour where I want it.   I usually add just a little water using a small watercolour brush after drawing on the fabric.     Then I heat set with a hot dry iron.   I made stamps of stars and fishes using a foam sheet and stamped fish and stars to the background in golds, silvers etc.  I also added three fabric stars.  Then I added thin batting and backing and hand-quilted along the lines of the waves with multicoloured threads.    I used a fun multicoloured and polka dotted fabric for the backing and binding because these birds are almost clown-like with their gait and their blue eye ring and feet markings.   If I were to do it over I would make the "on guard" gannet bigger with the others around it as in cartoon bubbles......