you can soften the white and red areas with your quilting. I would do a very curvy quilting in white on the red and a multi color curvy thing in the white. Not only will the roundness soften all the lines but the thread colors will tie it all together. Quilters need to stop being so hard on themselves. Everytime we try something new, we are learning and keeping our brains active - a good thing. And we can always make something from it, even if it to take sections and make placemats, table runners or pot holders!