Thanks for your kind words, everyone! For those curious about the next quilt... well, yeah, it's already done and gifted.
I think I just had to get over the mental block of thinking it was going to be SO hard and take SO long. I finished my first in mid-December and then had the next done by the second week in January. I'll post it separately.
glassbird - I used Warm & Natural batting. And, yes, I did prewash. I was worried about the reds and purples - rightfully so. I ended up having to treat a few of them with Retayne since they were bleeding excessively. But zero issues when I washed the completed quilt.