How would You Quilt this, stumped
 

The pattern is called Bare Branches, I am doing it for my sister. She does not want leaves or bare trees quilted into it. She wants the piecing to be the focus. I just can not seem to come up with a design.

could you do an all over wood grain design to give the feeling of trees without taking anything away from the piecing?

I tried drawing that on some preview paper over a picture of the quilt but didn't like how it looked.

It would be very time consuming, but you could stitch 1/4" inside each of the shapes, and that would keep her shapes prominent.

Sometimes good ole stitch in the ditch is the perfect choice when they want the focus on the piecing. If it were me I’d echo the shape inside the triangular part a few times. Can’t wait to see what you choose!

I have a lot of problems choosing my quilting design. My brain just doesn't see what others do in terms of what others see.

Usually when I stitch in the ditch, I'm actually stitching in the ditch, for this though I would be over 1/4-1/2" away from the branch part and using a background color thread, just stitch those diagonal channels first, then see what else it needs from there, whether to go both horizontal and vertical, or maybe just one.

An all over edge to edge swirly meander design would look nice too. Can be leafy-inspired maybe without being too noticeable, maybe a vine with an occasional leaf sprouting off it would be ok??

I would do an all-over panto or meander in a lightweight thread like Bottom Line, which is 60 wt, or Microquilter, which is 100 wt, in a color that blends with the background. If you use a finer thread, it will recede into the background fabric and let the piecing shine.

I would probably just do FMQ. Another reason I don't quilt for anyone else.

I'd just squiggle all over it... a medium size stipple. There are bound to be lots of heavy intersections, and this way you won't have to deal with them.