I really like it the way it is. A walking foot isn't used for FM quilting I don't think. Anyway, I haven't heard of that.
You could do FM in the white areas but I'm a fan of the 1/4 inch for very traditional patterns. I'm new to machine quilting too, I've always done hand quilting and am just beginning to do it by machine and I'm having a hard time deciding what and where to do FM.