Fireworkslover, thanks for the encouragement & the tips.
I actually plan to do turned edge applique for the foreground. I know that cutting out the center of the fusible web helps make the pieces less stiff, but it's still not particularly fun to try and applique through that & I kind of prefer the look of turned edge applique where the stitches are mostly hidden.
I found Karen Kay Buckley's perfect circles (and perfect ovals) a year ago & just love them. I think they will be perfect for my applique. I'm actually thinking about playing around with fabrics other than quilter's cotton for some of the applique -- maybe some silk, organza, lace & such. I haven't decided for sure, but it would allow viewers to see the piecing underneath & might give a fun effect with the water. My design is still a bit of a work in progress, but at the moment I have planned to applique 169 circles on to the top of my quilt. For the top 38%, I will use quilter's cotton; the bottom 62% is where I am thinking about maybe trying some other options. This is the first quilt I've ever designed & I'm having oh so much fun making all these choices as I go along.
