I'm really glad that you have decided to stick with the hearts - and to applique them as you go along. The other idea might have been a little too repetitious. The simplest way to check it out would be in your EQ6.
I haven't dug out my copy of that magazine, so I don't know what the original design looks like. Did it have any applique where your hearts are? And is the border quilting design (I think that's what your thin green lines are - not the thicker ones?) your design, or was it in the magazine? Either way, those lines + the little hearts in the border pull every thing together. It's a very feminine quilt.
Each of your quilts is more beautiful than the last. I'm so glad that you share them with us from the early design stage to the finish as you progress.