Sharon Schamber has videos on how to use Elmer's washable school glue. Check out her Youtube video on binding. Basically you use just tiny dots of glue and iron them dry. I use it when I need to be super-accurate with matching seams.
I don't like glue sticks for freezer paper applique. Found that Elmer's washable paper paste works better for me -- much faster and no gooey paper edges. I apply it quickly with a finger. This is the same paste I grew up with -- smells like peppermint. Until 10 years or so, drugstores here used to carry it in among the school supplies. Now I have to order it online; can't find it locally.
Neither the glue nor the paste gums up the needle. By the time you sew, it is completely dry so it is similar to sewing through starch.