Quilts made with machine embroidery blocks

[stashed]

I am just completing a machine embroidered baby quilt and used a vine type of stitching up and down the sashes both vertical and horizontally--I used stabilizer under the vine stitching hoping it would prevent a gathering look, and while it may have helped, the rows still caused the blocks they go around to look gathered.  Does anyone know if this can be prevented or not?  (see attached.) 

Thanks for any thoughts.

Carol

[ffq-lar]

I don't know your plan for quilting these blocks, but if you echo/outline the vines and then stitch a filler around the embroideries, the vines and figures will be the focus. Any gathered look will be alleviated by the surrounding stitching. 

Another helper will be batting with some loft. If it's a quilt to be displayed, poly batting is a great product. If the quilt is to be used, most recommendations are for 100% cotton batting for baby quilts. The poly will offer stitch definition and a lovely poof to the unquilted areas. Cotton, after laundering, will crinkle and any gathered-looking areas will not show.