Thank you, everyone, for the kind words. I never seem to be satisfied with my own work, especially when the finished product will go to someone else. (1) the co-worker hasn't seen it yet - I'll be taking it to work with me on Monday. (2) for the question of "how?", I first used Pam Clarke's "Basic 8" stencil to chalk my compass points (here's the link:
http://homestitches.com/stencils1.html ), then I used my melon-shaped LA templates to make my petals, positioning them on the chalked compass lines. The "veins" in the petals are FMQ. Again, thank you all for the oh-so-nice comments. I'm feeling a little less doubtful about it now.