This year, I made the same (or similar) discovery that you did ... that I detest the iron-on, raw edge sewing applique process. I've been saving up patterns for years because I was sure I would love doing them - some day. In January of this year, I made some log cabin practice blocks with some 2" strips I had on hand ... one of the strips was glaringly wrong (color-wise), but I decided to put the blocks together and then 'hide' the ugly strip with iron-on applique. The result is quite cute; however, the process really stinks! I was quite shocked to discover how annoying it is for me.