How would you finish this?
 

This is my first cross stitch quilt. It is a Christmas gift for my husband. He is the one I would normally ask about these things but it is a surprise. Do you think it needs borders? I was thinking a small yellow inner border and then a blue outer border. Would that be too much yellow? I was also considering a small green border and then a blue outer border.

I also am not sure how to quilt it. I was thinking stitch in the ditch, diagonally quilting, or stipple. I think I will have to use invisible thread. I don't like using that but I think that is my only option. If it was your quilt what would you use?

Thank you in advance,
Alicia

I would audition the various colors to see what works best, stand back and then decide.

I agree. Can you take pictures of the choices and show us? I would also consider a narrow cream or white inner.

i would cross-hatch with yellow in the large yellow areas and the same with the black areas using black. in the white and green areas use those colors but quilt with concentric U's and upside down U's.

Very nice quilt, no ideas on how to quilt it.

I would use the same green in a small border & finish with the wider blue. I don't think you'd want to stitch in the ditch as it wouldn't let you focus on the pieced design you've made. IMHO

I think that more yellow would be a lot of yellow, and could detract from the central motif. I'd use a thin cream and wide blue to echo the colors in the center.

And as for quilting, I'd change thread colors rather than use invisible.

I'd stitch in the ditch all around the motifs, SID the elf's face, and then do filler on everything except his face and hands.

I might use a yellow thread on his shirt and quilt straight horizontal lines to make it striped.

Is he holding a tree? Or 3 trees? I can't really tell.

I'd fill the background with ribbons.

Looks like you've already got input with a lot of great ideas, so I'll just comment "Great job".

I would for sure use black for one border to frame it but you might try using a different color all together like red or orange just to see what it looks like. I find at times things you would never think of tend to be the best option. As far as quilting goes I would do the diagonal crosshatch but make the lines wavy to give it all more motion but at the same time not taking away from the block/cross stitch feel.

I would do a bright border, like yellow first and then green personally. I did a Zelda quilt with lots of colors in it and I used a neutral beige thread for the quilting and quilted each area of the picture differently.