Free motion couching

Free motion couching has been the current topic of discussion on the QuiltArt forum, so I decided to show my efforts in this department.

I purchased a pattern & fabric to make a patchwork jacket roughly 4 years ago. Substituted some of my own hand-dyes & other fabrics. Thus began my unhappy & reluctant journey in making what has become known as the dreaded patchwork jacket. I became quite a pro at avoiding this project as the seasonal nature of the photos will testify.
I estimate it took me at least 3 full days to cut, assemble the strips and then create the larger pieces of fabric called for in the pattern. All seams throughout the process were serged as well.
At this point I take another prolonged break as I don't like the turquoise which seems to dominate. I'm also unhappy with the patches, but ...
I find a men's fleece, v-neck sweater in a consignment shop one day. The colour seems to cut the turquoise. This is good.
At this point I am still considering changing the pattern's neckline, but keeping the set in sleeve. Perhaps couching coloured yarn will reduce the overall striped look.
Oh yes, I should mention that the pattern calls for 1/2 rows of vertical quilting which I did do and then ripped out! I won't say how many hours that took.

Here is the actual couched yarn - my first attempt. What a mess!

I try to rip out the couched yarn. Not going to happen; I give the yarn a 'hair cut' which at times leaves only the 'stitched' zigzag stitching visible. That's OK by me.
Below you see one side with no couching for comparison. I can think of nothing else, so I go ahead and do something similar on the other front. By then I am extremely tired of couching curves (somewhat painful is a good descriptor of the process). I add couched yarn to the back panel, but only stitch-in-the-ditch straight lines and only in certain areas to reduce the impact of the vertical lines. Sorry no photo.

In the end I keep the pattern's collar, chose to insert the fleece sleeves raglan style & not to include the sweater's hem at the bottom. Not obvious or probably even visible is the embroidery stitching on the raglan seams as well as the sleeve cuff area. Imagine my surprise when I realized the thread needed to be turquoise, the colour I was trying to get away from!

The tote made from leftover fabric scraps is one of the many projects I completed while diligently avoiding this project. The hem and buttons with loops are still to be sewn so I continue to avoid the dreaded ...