I guess if one were tenacious enough and willing to make some alterations, any applique pattern could be needle turned. But for me, some applique patterns are so intricate and sometimes small that it is not suited for needle turn, but designed specifically for machine applique and more specifically raw edge machine applique. If you are designing your own project, you can keep the ease of needle turn in mind. If this is a purchased pattern, I would do a google search for images of the completed quilt and determine if it is generally needle turned or machine appliqued. I would be very frustrated if I started a needle turn applique pattern and find out it was too difficult to needle turn. In this case my finished quilt would not be show quality. Whatever technique you use, it must be done well. I agree that some research on what categories are available at the quilt show would be helpful. Just one more thought. Does a needle turned applique quilt need to be hand quilted?