What to machine quilt on this?
 

I made this dinosaur quilt for my grandson. It will be used (loved) immensely so will need to stand up to many washes. I will machine quilt this on my domestic machine. Don’t know if I should do an all over meandering or do something special on the panel. Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have.

Since you want a durable quilt, and intend to quilt it on your domestic machine, I'd be tempted to do some stitch in the ditch type of pattern that travels across the quilt from side to side and top to bottom. Depending on the distance between quilting that your batting requires you may need/want to add more lines between the stitch in the ditch ones. Alternatively you could stitch in the ditch in the "bricks" and do a diagonal/diamond type shape on the panel. Please post what you decide to do. Lovely top

It depends on how much time you want to spend quilting it. You could go all out and outline the dinosaurs, put clouds in the sky, pebbles in the bricks, and waves in the water, but would your grandson notice? I don't care for meandering, but an allover pattern like swirls would give the quilt enough stability to hold it through many washings and rough use.

I think this idea would make the quilt more durable.

How stiff do you want this to be? It needs enough quilting to be durable but not so much that it isn't cuddly. I'd stitch in the ditch on the bricks and outline the features of the panel. Then take a look if you have enough inside the features that it is stable. Sometimes less is more.

On the pictorial part, l would chose to outline certain parts, following their contours...not every detail needs quilting. Then on borders, simple stitch in ditch then in centers, a nice chance to play with rulers & templates if you're so inclined...otherwise , an open grid or lines ( not too close) in them.

When I do panel quilts for babies and small kids, I like to hand stitch in the panel and then meander the rest, but not too much. Hand quilting is softer, not stiff and adds a really personal touch to the quilt. I usually write the child's name with my meandering stitching and tell the recipient to find their name in the quilt. They are so proud of their name being "hidden" within their quilt. Have fun with it.

All over meander

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I wil STD for stabilization, meander in the bricks, and outline parts of the center panel.