How do I quilt this ABC quilt?

[coffeebreak]

I am doing this quilt for a 1,1/2 yo grand daughter. I am always trying to make things multi-useable, so this one is to not only be a warm blanket to cuddle in, but learn her ABC's and colors and animals too!

I appliqued the animal squares (From a panel) onto a black square to make finished squares of 6". THe solid color sq's are 6". Sashing between square sets (3x2) is 1,1/2" and the 2 borders are 1/1,2" The binding will be yellow and 1". That behind the black boarder is the back fabric...fleece and "disney" castle.

So how do I quilt them together? I want the quilt to be soft and cuddly but not all puffy. I have thin or a puffier/thicker batting.
I was thinking meandering in all the sashes/borders and nothing in the squares, but then the sqs will be all puffy and look odd. So I was thinking STID around the black part only of the sqs. and meander in the sash/borders. But I know that the more FMQ'ing done, the stiffer it makes the quilt. I meander instead of Stipple...and can make the meander even farther apart, but in such a small area, that might look dumb. But if there is meandering all around the outer boarders, and only vertically on the quilt, won't that make it stiff and bulky?

I recently did an American Flag quilt...I meandered the blue star part, but STID in the strips part...and it looks kind of half finished. The strips are puffy looking..they dont lay flat it seems, and kin dof looks incomplete. but the blue of hte star area is flat and stiff and not at all "cuddly".

So... here are pictures of the whole quilt and a close up of the sash/border. Any thought or ideas are greatly appreciated. What kind of quilting do I do where and what kind of batting? Anything else would be appreciated too!