I have made 3 apple core quilts and working on the 4th. I love making them and only kept one for myself and gave the others to family. I made charm quilts (meaning that a fabric was used only one time in the quilt). I did one with all plaids and the others were assorted prints. I hand pieced mine, so relaxing and I could stitch them on my lunch break at work. Even taught some of my co-workers who said they would NEVER hand-piece and they had to admit that is was enjoyable. They were non-quilters, first time quilt and they turned out great, so don't be afraid.
The one thing I did in cutting and my lay-out was to have all the darks go in one direction and the lights in the opposite which you have done. I also assembled mine in blocks of 16 apple-cores (4X4) which made shorter stitching distance, then assembled blocks into rows and then assembled the rows. This way you don't have long stitching rows with ever row of single apple-cores. I hope this is clear and does not confuse you.
Your quilt looks great, I would not worry about the directional prints. My only suggestion would be to scatter the whites a little more since they are the ones which illuminate the quilt. Go for it and enjoy the process!!