OK.. this is for Sharon and a few other followers. It will take a few minutes to get it all in so be patient with me.

Needless to say the first step is to pick your block and the fabrics you will be using. The pattern I have chosen for this tute is "Spring Blossom".. I have selected a "focal" fabric and several others that co-ordinate with it because this block is to be one in a sampler that I am making.
Step # 2 is to trace the patterns onto clear plastic and cut out the templates.. These will be cut out without seam allowances.(We'll add them later). Mark all the templates with piece numbers, letters and any other identifying marks.
Step #3. See pic #1 marking pieces on the corresponding fabrics. Pic 2 and 3 are the petal pieces traced onto the chosen fabrics. Those tracing lines are your stitching lines for the pieces. You will now mark a second line 1/4" (approx) outside that line.. this is your cutting line.

The top picture here is the piece with the 1/4" seam allowance added.. on this fabric I used a "water erasable" marker and marked on the right side of the fabric. Once you have all of your pieces cut out.. including the basic quilt block that you will be appliqueing your design on (mine is a 12 1/2" square) I like to lay the pieces out on the background and make sure I like them. As you can see, even my quilt inspector (that's The Zoops) approves of it. It's much better to find out at this point that you don't like one of the fabrics than to wait until later. Happy with them? Great.. me too.
next I mark the block so I can place the pieces uniformly. in this case I just folded the background block and gently (with my fingers) put little creases in it to guide my placement. Now we're ready to progress with basting our seams.

OK.. now we're going to baste the seam allowances. I just use a fine quilting needle with a single thread and put a knot in one end. I'm going to start with the center circle and show you a little trick I like to use.. this one is slightly different from the petals.. so you'll learn 2 techniques. Since the center is a simple circle.. I cut a circle of moderately stiff cardboard the size I want the circle to end up. Now run a basting thread around the fabric circle you have cut out .. easy.. right.. OK.. now place the cardboard circle in the center and pull the thread to gather the fabric ring up so that it holds the cardboard in the center. then I take a little stitch to hold the gathers.. and at this point you can press it with a hot iron to reinforce the crease around the outside of the circle.
At this point you can remove the cardboard and the circle will usually hold it's shape. For the petals.. which aren't a smooth outer edge we'll progress a little differently.. for those you will fold the seam allowance to the wrong side of the fabric.. then run your basting stitches down the center of that 1/4". As you stitch along I finger press the crease along the outside of the pieces. Some folks will press these with an iron at this point.. but you don't have to. the basting will hold the fold.
After you have all of your pieces basted.. place them on the background and pin down to see how they look.

Now for the "real" sewing.. I hope these pictures are clear enough for you to see. Applique is the only time in hand piecing a quilt that I use knots in my thread. with a short to moderate thread in your needle I make a knot in the end.. then I will work the needle into the quilt piece's folded under edge and push the needle out right through the fold.
then I find where the edge of that quilt piece should meet the background and take a small stitch in the background fabric.the I slip the needle into the "hem" of the quilt piece and take another small stitch right next to the first one. You continue around the edge of the piece first taking a small stitch in the "hem" of the quilt piece.. then a small stitch in the background fabric.
Each time I take a stitch I try to line up my stitches so that the needle "piercing" of the fabric are right above each other.. does that make sense? if not let me know I'll try to clarify. I try to keep my stitches around 1/8" or so long.. and use only gentle tugging to keep things together.. you don't want to pull it too tight as that will pucker things up. When you have gone all around the piece or come to the end of the seam I bring the needle to the back of the backgound and taking a small stitch on the back in the seam allowance, I tie off that thread and prepare to start again.

As you can see in the next to last picture, I do not turn under and stitch areas that will be covered by another piece. It feels to me like that makes areas that are just too thick. I sure hope this is helpful.. if there is anything that will make a step clearer or something I can help with, please let me know.

As you can see.. I do have "students" that don't agree with my methods.. or maybe he didn't like the colors. That's Mr. Man and he is quite opinionated.

Thank you for the tute :D:D:D

Oh How neat - makes me feel like I can do it now ! :thumbup:
THANKS Tippy

I like your tutorial, but I thought the stitching was supposed to be invisible??

I am thinking that those are the basting stiches that she has on there then you go around doing the actual part that is hidden. I may be wrong, but that's what it looks like to me.

:)