I have a friend who is a prolific hand appliqué stitcher. Her Moto is “when in doubt cover it up. Love the heart idea above in a real tiny print. My friend fuses the appliqué on, then hand stitches around it with single embroidery thread and very close stitches in a buttonhole stitch. It would look very intentional and no one will ever know. If you don’t hate doing the appliqué scatter a number in different sizes over the backing. The time you put into doing that will make the quilt even more special.