Wow! So many talented quilters here! All of those quilts are just beautiful. Gail, that quilt is STUNNING! Your quilting is amazing and totally inspirational! I was thinking about maybe doing a bit of thread painting with shades of blue & a white thread for the crests & after seeing your quilt, I know I want to try that.
I like Applique's suggestion about maybe inking my background fabrics. I was first thinking I would need to piece the background in varied sizes and shapes -- like how I do applique -- but started wondering about doing a mosaic background instead after I saw this
http://www.historyofquilts.com/hexagon_quilt.html
Now that I have seen how your quilts look with the background & applique on top, I am thinking that may be the way to go. Now I just need to figure out what shape to use! I'm thinking the diamonds might be a nice option, though, since I have lots of appliqued circle shapes going on top. Or maybe triangles. But I've also been playing with the idea of a crazy quilt for my background. My idea is to make my quilt in the style of the Mona Lisa -- with the background as the main attraction of the quilt, keeping the foreground simple.
This is all great fun, but there are so many things to consider!!!!! Thank you all VERY, VERY, VERY much for your input. I'm really learning a lot & always enjoy getting ideas & inspiration from other quilters.