Design Opportunity

So I am making a quilt this dark and rainy weekend.  The photos will show the truth of the "dark" part of my statement.

I started the applique part a while ago.  The story of the applique part goes something like this:

1. Design applique
2. Prep applique
3. Applique
4. Cut into a circle, incorrectly beyond repair
5. Re-prep applique
6. Applique
7. Cut into a circle, incorrectly yet repairable, but do not notice it at first
8. Piece into background sideways
9. Remove from background
10. Notice the incorrect circle-cutting
11. Un-applique a leaf
12. Re-applique the leaf so it is well inside the piecing
13. Re-piece circle into the background, correctly
14. Lie down in a darkened room to recover

Once I recovered, I was ready to quilt.  Have I mentioned how much I love my sweet  Sweet Sixteen?  I do,  I do, I do!  I am excited to quilt this quilt on my baby.

I quilted the background of the applique:

I quilted two fun circle patterns:

The it was time to add the background quilting.  I chose diamonds:

Problem.  I felt the diamonds were too big and puffy and distracted from the circle motifs.  Agree?:

I decided to add some quilting to the center of the diamonds.  

Choice #1 -- inner diamonds.

Rejected.

Choice #2 -- pumpkin seeds:

Rejected.

Choice #3 -- spiral diamonds:

Rejected.

Choice #4 -- concentric diamonds:

I decided to keep this design, for now at least.

I still have to un-quilt my rejected designs.  Words cannot express how excited I am to pick out 18 stitches to the inch in 100-weight thread.  Maybe chocolate will help?