Thank you all, I am using flour sack towels, I don't know if that makes a difference then terry, I will see about getting some tear away stabilzer though, I definitely do not want a mess...
Another question if you don't mind, when I was attempting to machine applique I used the zig zag stitch and when I cam e to a corner (teddy bear applique) it started to get messy so I stopped and tore out before going further, so then I started hand stitching and it does not look good to me, because I used a web fusing and did not cut out pattern before on fusing so it would only fuse the edges, it is stiff, but too bad can work with, but I would really like to do the zig zag stitch but not sure what I am doing wrong when lifting foot and turning and stitching...any suggestions on what the best way is too do machine or hand....new at appliqueing, well actually still new period...