What about circles? Celtic images would applique well, and tile patterns would too. There is a prize winning pattern out there based on mexican plates I think. P3 is a lady who is makeing baltimore type blocks for each state. Texas has the Alamo, they usually have the state bird or flower, so sorry about that, but it is a variety of images, tall ships, steam engines etc. There is another book out there that does variations on hearts. You could hit amazon and google Applique and see if there is anything that strikes your fancy.