Decision made - for better or worse!!!

Well, I decided on keeping to the same coloured thread and changing to a SLIGHTLY looser, more traditional stipple over the bright patches of my background. Thanks to all who made suggestions!

The whole piece, all quilted. I chopped the left side off a bit with the camera because I couldn't see well . There IS a bit more plain to the left of the far left leaf.

I am including some closeups of the quilting so you can see what I did.

Here you can see the difference between the pattern quilted on the dark part of the fabric and the brighter bit behind the lighter leaves.

I have a couple more just to show you what I did to quilt the leaves themselves. I do like intense background quilting to make the subject really jump up and get noticed!!

 Now, I need to scramble to find enough dark fabric to face the quilt and to make a hanging sleeve. Then, make a label and... Bob's your uncle! Thanks again for the good advice, dear friends!