Inkscape swirl initial pattern question

[RLCJ]

Hey all I need help...When Steve shows his swirl initial tutorial, and he performs the union function to group the Initial to the word created in the middle his word turns to the all gray color with the dark line around it. My word in the middle stays black and when you go to cut it out with the whole word black it is harder for me to follow the outline of the black letter rather than if I just had a single black line to follow like his shows. Can someone tell me how to set up inkscape so that when I perform the union function the word in the middle turns the same gray color as his original initial with just thin a black line on the outside of the word. I hope this makes sense to everyone if not I can try to explain it better. I am new to inkscape and cant seem to figure out what he has his settings at to make it perform the way it does in the tutorial.

Thanks in advance to all who try to help me on this...

[GLC]

Alas, I also struggle w/ Inkscape.  I have determined that Inkscape seems to require more determination to learn than I have given, so far.  Try Youtube videos teaching Inkscape, with the "union" command.  There are folks there that teach this subject to share their expertise in Inkscape.  Steve does not claim such expertise in Inkscape.  Also you might try looking into Facebook "groups" targeting Inkscape.  Have a great day.  Regards > GLC in Cypress, Texas. 

[RLCJ]

Thanks for the tip GLC. I found out why it wasn't working and it was because I had to ungroup the word as well as the initial and then select everything together and then hit union and it performed as it does in Steve's tutorial.