Thank you for all the replies! The pattern came off moda bakeshop; the example quilt was quilted with an orange peel design which I liked a lot, until I saw a close up picture of how the curved line clipped the nine square blocks at an odd angle. I really like the shape of the white blocks once the curves were placed,but there was still a big empty white space in the center of each block.
I wonder what it would look like if I shadowed the original orange peel line in just the white squares, to take up a little more space?
I did crosshatching on my last project, a small bow tie quilt. It turned out really well. I think here it might make the diagonal lines of the quilt emphasized....but I also think it would really bring out the biggest mistakes in the quilt, which is none of the points line up very well. I had a scant quarter inch seam down on my old machine, but when I tried to do it the way the dealer showed me for the new one, I got very inconsistent results. Some of the points where I joined rows together are off more than a quarter inch, and if I pulled it apart to correct the mistakes I would never finish it a second time. I know my limits, and re-piecing a queen sized quilt over such a simple mistake would keep me from finishing this project for years!
I really like the stars you drew on the white, @quiltedsunshine. If I were a little more confident with my FMQ I would totally go for one of those.
I sat down and played on my machine this morning with some scraps and my walking foot, playing with some of the decorative stitches. There is a curved one I really like the looks of, but it might be a little too modern for what I want for this quilt.
Right now I am leaning towards trying the orange peel, (might as well get a few more firsts in this quilt, right?) and still researching other options.
Thanks for all of the suggestions, book recommendations, and ideas. I still haven't made up my mind, but you have given me a lot to think about!