It is too bad that you are not ready to do FMS. Leah Day has some wonderful ideas on how to fill negative space. A lot of her quilting is very dense, but could be spread out to fit the project.
Earlier in this thread it was suggested you do some straight rays of stitching through the background. That would be relatively easy to mark and do and would make the mixers & spatulas stand out as long as you don't stitch onto them. Cute quilt.