Un-quilting ;-(

I started off the quilting on the flower tree with high hopes that were met - and the micro-stippling around the central 'tree' went well, with sufficient fabric 'eaten' to satisfy me.

I always knew that the wide open areas were going to be trickier, as there was so much more fabric, but I set off with gung-ho enthusiasm and thought that it might be OK.

It wasn't. I think that it was Ferret who said '8 minutes quilting = 8 hours unpicking' - and she could well be right. I certainly had a lost day with only this handful of thread fragments to show for it.

Now I need to tackle the excess fabric some other way. My sister suggested pulling the fabric into a bunch and twisting it into flowers. I thought that she might be joking, but it's up for serious consideration (and I've just found Jacquie Harvey doing almost exactly that, but setting off with the intention of making roses, in an old Fabrications magazine). Erica on BQL suggests either starching and shifting the fabric about until the fullness is lost, or placing additional wadding behind it that will be unnoticed when the area is quilted. The trouble is, my areas are bloated and bulging rather than merely full. I'm wondering if I can combine all three. Pull, fold, starch what is left, stuff the (by now smaller area) bulge, and then slap a small butterfly on the top of it.........?

I've started by spritzing the top with water to get rid of any lingering blue marker. I rather think that my second move might be to leave the top to one side and get on with something easier while I think about it.