to quilt your granny baskets, i'd quilt in the ditch around each flower and the outline of each basket using a contrasting shade of embroidery floss. a different floss for each of the differently colored flowers, leaves, etc.
i'd use at least 3 strands of floss to both maintain the integrity of each flower and basket, and to really make them pop against each other and the background.
AND i wouldn't use the traditional running quilt stitch. I'd use an embroider stem stitch. the embroider shows on the top. the back will be look like straight stitches. the end result would be reversible, with the whole design mirrored on the back in all the right colors - as though you'd embroidered it separately.
i love all those quilts! the judges at the art show must've all been ... shall we say ... intellectually and artistically "challenged".