My Two Cents for Jacqui A.

Jacqui is not very far along with this CQ "bib" and sent it along for some input and she had a VERY important question....  The photo was large enough but not well focused and was quite grainy and I felt I wasn't seeing it all... But you even though you can't make out the detail such as her crystals you can see the overall progress...

There are two things about this piece to keep in mind..  First it is not very large so you want to take advantage of every opportunity for lavish embellishment.  Second it is going to be worn around someone's neck so it will really be seen up close.

The very first thing I'd do if I were working on this is really expand  the seams embellishment...  There only two seams of any length so go all out....use trim, lace, beads and stitching all at once on both.. Make them opulent...  Here are some examples... Obviously I'm not recommending these colors....only the lavishness... We certainly don't want wimpy seam treatments....ever!!!

The next thing I'd address is the lace motif on the right..It is large and  naked... In order for it to become part of the piece itself it needs to be again lavishly beaded and maybe even some metallic threads included..

 Jacqui added " I am such a symmetrical person, this is all very hard for me but I love CQ and want to do much more."  Symmetry is not nearly important in CQ as balance is but the principal is similar...  So you have this large bold motif on the right side of the block and I'd balance it with something such as the floral spray I put on the bottom left...

The last suggestion is different buttons..  The idea of the buttons on the lace is great but two are quite ordinary buttons... Go to the button department at a fabric store and get some absolutely star-quality buttons...

Now for Jacqui's very important question.... "The bottom left is already so bright and shiny with the gold lame woven into it what on earth can I do to decorate it?" Well with this one you're lucky as it is only shiny and glitzy, and so just work right over it with aplomb!!!   But think of whatever is in any patch as "wallpaper" and it's suppose to showcase whatever you put on it...  No matter how beautiful the wallpaper is in a room we still use it to furnish the room..."   Keeping in mind that if you run into a patch that is insanely wild and colorful, have no qualms with covering it up with lace, paint or anything else.
It's the needlework, not the patch, that's important...  As always these are just my opinions and I'm sure anyone else looking at it would see things differently...  But that's