I think your daisy idea is great!

If you feel you are very much a novice, doing one block at a time might be a better experience for you. With each block you will build up your confidence (and experience).

Thanks again everyone....will spend some more time thinking it over.

I would stitch in the ditch on both sides of your sashing. Then a large daisy in each block would be very cute. If you don't want to use freemotion, you could easily skip the daisy and continue stitching in the ditch around each central square.