Carrie, I kind of like the "blank" spaces as it draws attention to the red buttons. Most often when there is a grouping of anything, it looks best in odd numbers. For some reason just creates better balance. Pretty colors. Have you tried quilting with clear thread. Just bought some yesterday. Polyester works better than nylon as it is softer and doesn't cut the fabric. When I first started only nylon was made and have this huge spool of nylon thread--what do I do with it?! Anyway what I bought was Sulky Premium Invisible Thread a .004 filament polyester--am itiching to try it on a AAQI quilt.