Sounds like you like the individual blocks but not all the blocks assembled together. If that's the case, what about taking the blocks apart and making rug mugs?

It sounds to me like it might be one that would look much better after it is quilted. Hard to say for sure without a picture. Maybe put it away for a while then think about a quilting design. On the other hand, after it sits for a while you may still hate it, at which point you may as well donate it. I recently bought a kit that was on sale for a good price. Did not like the colors of the fabrics when I received the kit, but decided to go ahead and make it for a donation quilt. I could have returned it for a refund but didn't. That quilt gave me problems from the beginning! Ended up making it a smaller size because of my problems. The top is done and it is now resting in the closet. Hopefully, I will be able to finish it and donate it at some point!

Theory is good...unless of course you pay a long arm quilter to quilt a quilt that you already Don't like! In which case...if you don't like it now...you won't like it later...Donate
T

A picture would be helpful. but I have to say, I don't like 50% of my quilts at that stage, but change my mind when they are completed.

I have done that a couple times over my 30 years of quilting. One I ended up giving to an animal rescue. I later saw the quilt made into a coat for a bull dog. That was a good feeling for a quilt I did not like. The other one was a flannel quilt that I made and when I got the top finished I just did not like the look and feel. I gave the top away to someone who would finish it and love it. These thing do happen from time to time. Have you tried to figure a boarder that would pull the flower colors forward? A good boarder can make all the difference.

I have never made a quilt top/ quilt I truly hated. I always finish all my quilts and donate them, someone will love it or at least keep them warm.

I absolutely have one that I hate. I think it was my 3rd quilt. I loved the fabric so much that I bought a yard just to have. Then, I saw Jenny Doan's quartered stripes video and decided that was the pattern to use. So, I went back to buy enough to make it. I made all the blocks, but hated it at that point. It was just too much blue and too much of the same thing. My friend suggested white sashing, so I sashed it. I still didn't like it. Then I figured out that it was going to cost me about $160.00 to get it quilted, plus the batting. It's too big for me to quilt, so it's dead in the closet until I donate it or decide to spend the money to finish it. I already bought the backing fabric, plus some coordinating prints for pillows.

I never even took a photo of the top finished.

bkay

Here are the blocks, which look great. Then, you get 40 of them together and ask, "what was I thinking?".

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in most cases, ugly is in the eye of the beholder.
i have made a few that i thought were awful.
one was especially hideous.

everybody else loved it.
go figure. lol

if it's well constructed, don't throw it in the trash.
instead, donate it to an organization that will pass it on for a good cause.
some ... such as Project Linus ... accept just tops and have volunteers who do the quilting with donated backing and batting. (obviously, if you can afford to quilt it yourself, they all prefer getting completed quilts.)

do you have a local guild?
they might have one or more places to which they routinely donate quilts.

If you like the individual blocks, why not separate them and set them with an alternate block, either just fabric ( your choice of color), or pieced?
This is why l use a large design wall...blocks go up on there , unjoined, and l take a photo. If l don't like my setting, l can add sashings, blocks, drop set...anything. l take photos of my attempts. Later, over coffee, l review and often have trouble deciding between two front runners!

bkay, those would make a lovely border on a quilt with center mostly white with bits of blue, yellow, and perhaps grey.