Dialogue of a WannaBe Woodgeek

I've finished the raised panels with a water based Minwax stain color picked out by my wife. They looked good. I tried to top them with water based polyurethane. They looked bad. I had to sand off the finish. Just doesn't sit right. I've bought the fancy brushes and followed directions correctly, I think. But it's not going to happen. I'll finish all vertical and not heavy use surfaces with oil based varethane and finish the main horizontal surfaces with wipe-on poly. I have read a lot on the problems with poly, but I was too smart to follow them. A picture will be posted soon with the resulting raised panel doors.