I also LA and do it just like ckcowl. When I quilted on my domestic using the feed dogs and walking foot I would startout with very very short stitch length, almost zero then slowly increase it up. When doing FMQ I tried to do the same, teeny tiny stitches to normal size stitching, unless I was doing something like a circle where I would just take a few overlapping stitches. Burying threads is very time consuming and a lot of work. I have heard of some people doing a drop of fray check as well but I myself have never done that.
Gorgeous quilt BTW.