There is another technique called seeding which looks real cool and will be less time consuming and hold the quilt togehter too.
Hand stippling would take a long time. It is all curves back and forth around itself. I don't think I have ever seen Hand stippling though it could be done, there might be a reason why you don't see it. I think it could be striking.
Seeding is where you take the stitches in every direction, like scatterd seeds, and as long as you keep the density of the stitching uniform it looks real cool.
Let us see what you decide.. How about doing a 12" sq sample to try both out and decide from there.
peace