I don't really like the stippling idea. Just my preference. And I'm not sure if my sewing machine could actually do that.
But that stitch in the ditch thing gave me an idea. Instead of stitching in the ditch sew like 1/4 inch away from the shapes and then sew another 1/4 inch from that seam and keep doing that, creating like a ripple effect. That'd be something I could definately do. Anyone second the idea?