You really don't need a lot of quilting for something this size but I think a small stipple around the pug would make it stand out. I would SID around the edges of the white border and maybe random bones in the brown......
It turned out cute and I am sure anything you do will be great and she will love it.

I also think some kind of filler stitch around the dog to make him stand out, then SID on both sides of the white.

Very cute! I like your technique - I may have to steal it sometime!

Donna

I hope you don't mind, but I drew on your quilt. I liked the suggestions so I just put pen to picture. I think it's cute.

By the way, I would match my thread to the fabric and I'd obviously stipple the entire background and quilt the entire borders. I think this would be one fun quick option. I've got other ideas, but no time to draw now...back to work! Good luck, and please show us what you decide to do.

I love the pug!!! Great job Bobby, very creative!!!!!
Rosa

He's adorable! Again great shared info for future use.

LindaB/CA

Thanks for the suggestions/comments everyone... I have the sandwhich made and am still contemplating how to quilt and what color thread to use. I've been practcing free motioning without a presser foot because the hopping action of the foot makes my movement too jerky.... much easer without a foot and I can see where I'm going... just waiting until I sew through my hand...

I did try do do a really narrow and tight zig zag when I first did this design but I lost a lot of detail because there are so many sublte curves.... so the straight stitch isn't quite as bold, but I was able to keep closer to the original look...

Lola, I don't mind you drawing on my quilt, thanks for helping :o)

He's really cute and I like the simple color combo. A good technique to get this look.

If the stippling isn't up to snuff yet, I think I would do a small cross-hatch for just the background of the pug. I would pull out my ruler and pencil a line from one corner to the opposite, avoiding the pug. Then move 1/2" in either direction. Then do the same thing in the other direction.
After that, you can do the stitching with a walking foot and just follow the lines.

Then for the borders, you could just do straight lines, breaking each border into 2-3 sections each.

He's a cute looking pug!!

Thanks for the suggestions... Jennifer, I took your advice and did the diagonal thing, spaced a half inch apart... I don't trust my stippling yet... Marsha, you were so right months ago about the monofiliment thread... I tried to start with that and it just tangled in my machine and caused the machine to make noises I didn't know were possible, which I interpreted to mean (that is if machines could talk), "Get this @#^%$^ out of me right NOW!" I submitted and switched to a light colored regular thread and it worked fine....

Because I had to stop and start right at the design and border, there were a lot of thread tails to clip.... curved embroidery snippers really helped with that. I did stitch in the ditch on both sides of the inner border. For the border, I wanted to do a simple dog bone. My machine doesn't have that stitch, but it has a feature that allows one to create stitches and I used that to make this simple stiitch for the border. First time using that feature.... It took the better part of an hour to program and I tried to save it to memory and ended up deleting the stitch, so now I have to program it all over again to continue! I had to break out the dreaded sewing machine instruction manual and included graph paper for this, but it was simple once I got started... much like what I imagine the first paint program on early computers was like....

Not done yet, but this is the progress so far....

Looks good. I'm so glad you showed us your in-progress photos!

I think you are doing very well. This is how all of us have learned. The more you quilt, the more ideas you will gather. You get more proficient with time.

I like Jennifer's plan. I think crosshatch is the way to go on this one.

You are doing great....love the dog bones in the border...it may have been a pain to program, but it's worth the effort!!!
Looking forward to seeing the finished product...too cute.
V.

Great job. I knew you would find the right thing for you to do. Your aunt will appreciate your efforts.TFS

Thank you for all the feedback... I appreciate it more than you know. It is so fun to have people who care to share something you've done with!

I've only tried working on it once since I posted that, and I couldn't get the stitch to look the same when I tried re-programming it into the machine, so I'm going to have to keep playing with it...