This is part of the border I am stuck on.. The back is reversible and there are lots of seams so if I quilt around the figures the quilting on the back will cut across seams of square blocks and look out of proportion. I know, I should have thought about this beforehand - another lesson learned. Please any ideas of how to get round it.

would it be a bad thing for the motif's from the front to show in the quilting on the back? it is cute-
if you do not want that maybe you could just cross-hatch or do something along those lines...

I don't see a problem with the animal outlining showing over the squares on the back.

As far as I can see, you only have two options...quilt around the animals on the top or follow the pattern from the back. Sorry, no other suggestions. If you mean you are having trouble hand quilting through the seams? look up the "stab stitch" method for the tough areas.

Does the border "have" to be quilted?