I sewed around the different designs on mine and it was fine. maybe your laq was not wanting to take the time or trouble. if the material is not too thick, you should be able to tack it or even do some hand quilting of your own. I am still working on my squares. I am using white flannel for the backing , thin batting , and pellum ironed on the t-shirt emblem. I am sewing each square together and then putting a 1 1/2 inch strip of sport material around to frame it. I have yet to put it together. I am riding bky the seat of my pants and creating as I go.