You really don't want to downplay the wonderful applique on this, especially because it has such personal meaning to your friend. Quite honestly, if this came my way I would outline all the applique and just do a stipple or cross hatch in the background in matching thread color so that the star of this quilt is nothing but the applique and words. You could make the stipple hearts all over with swirls mixed in. But the main goal is to quilt the background flat so the message pops up off the surface.