choosing fmq design for newbie
 

I'm finally going to jump in and quilt this top. Any suggestions for fmq design?

Also, I have a few books on how to fmq but are there books or websites that help in learning good designs for different quilt patterns?

if you want to FMQ, i'd start with a meander, the possible not smooth lines won't show

I would advise to not do a lot of stitching on it. Depending on the thread and other factors, if you run your hand over the top of a machine stitched quilt, it can be very rough. I always hand quilt baby quilts because of this.

I love those 30's reproduction fabrics! If you haven't tried FMQ on practice pieces before, I suggest you do this before you try it on your lovely quilt top.
A meander is one of the easiest to start with. Once you get the "flow", loops are easy and graceful, too. Do you have quilting gloves? Machingers or whatever, they are so helpful!

Yes I do have gloves and have practice "sandwiches" I've practiced on. This will just be the first time I brave quilting on an actual top. And thank you for the kind words about the top :)

I would do a meander stitch.

Your fabrics are all in a similar value and quite busy so the quilting won't show much. I would recommend loops. If you feel daring you could add shapes along the path such as hearts, or leaves, or stars, using a neutral (beige/tan/taupe) thread.

It's not just the stitch design that makes it look good, but also keeping the area you are working on, free and loose. You will need to stop (needle down!) and reposition a lot. Make sure you pull up a bunch of the quilt all around the area you are working on so there is somewhere for your stitching to travel to, without getting in a bind. Plan to stop and reposition often and your quilting will look the smoothest.

Yes a meander...then take a deep breath and establish an easy rhythm...jerky rhythm equals jerky stitching... find that sweet spot for sewing machine speed...once I realized I was trying to sew too fast this technique finally started to click. I'm slowly get more comfortable after each project. On this current project, I found myself speeding up as my confidence improved but I couldn't move the fabric fast enough, so I slowed the machine speed down. Good luck...