Yeah, not a fan of adhesive batting for cuddly quilts.
As for how to quilt, I would be guided mostly by the color of block and sashing. When you are just starting free motion quilting and are not confident of your stitches, you will probably want to match your thread color to the fabric. So if your blocks and sashing are the same color, I would do continuous free motion work. If there is a significant color change, I would quilt them separately, possibly in a different design -- sashings can do well with a scroll, or curvy lines, pebble quilting, waves -- lots of different options.
Have fun. I love free motion quilting -- my favorite part of the process. It does take practice, so just keep at it until it is fun.
RST