Ripples in the Sand

I love the rippled sand left behind by the departing ocean at low tide.

The rippled, forked shapes are different with each withdrawal of the tide, yet so alike in their iterations, ephemeral yet eternal.

I especially like the way they feel under the soles of my feet.

That's why I set out to make a fiber creation based on this 8 x 10 photo of the ripples left behind by the tide on Cape Cod Bay in Eastham, MA.  I used a Sharpie marker to highlight its ridges and troughs.

I had this copied at 3 times its 8 x 10 size--24 x 30.

When I taped this 24 x 30 blowup onto a glass-topped table, and stuck a utility light under it, I created a giant light table. 

Then I was able to copy the contours of these ripples onto a piece of muslin. 

Once I backed the muslin up to a piece of shiny blue-tan fabric that looked like wet, rippled sand, I could sew the two together along these lines, creating a series of channels through which I would draw lengths of cording, thus creating the three-dimensional look of the sand ripples.

 Here are two different sizes of channels created for the cording.  The top one is 5/8" wide, the bottom one 6/8" or 3/4" wide.  Which looks more like the ripples in this photo?