How to quilt these little ones is always a dilema. Yes the stitching in the red would be my first step, too--I might have SID on the edges rather than in the middle. With the stitching down the middle I might straight stitch down the middle of the second row of checkerboards. I'm like you with the HQ stitching and absolutely worthless when arthritis bothers. How about tacking with regular thread a few corners in the broken dishes section and hide knots on the back? It would give some definition to the center and a balance of "quilting" in a subltle manner.
Have you ever used the 3 point zigzag (or serpentine) stitch for MQ? (On my Bernina I set the stitch width and length at 2 with this stitch.) I have found this to be very useful when cross hatch quilting a little quilt (ie log cabins) Not sure if you can see what I mean in this mini. These are 1/4 logs done a while ago (stitching has improved since then!) If I remember, the binding is just pinned in place so quilt isn't laying flat.