HAPPY VALENTINES DAY to all you AOTH quilters.
To answer the question, I do hold the applique in my left hand, no hoop. I think if you tried to do it in a hoop, you would have to stab stitch, and I don't do that. To me, it would be much harder to control.
As it is, my left thumb holds everything in place while I get the stitches in with my right hand. I take a tiny bite with the needle into the edge of the applique shape (only a couple of threads, then my needle goes back down through background directly opposite where it came out of the app shape, and tucked under it a little bit, so the minimum shows.
I did my samples (page 26/27) in a contrasting thread so you could see them, but in a matching thread, they wouldn't be that easy to see.
Happy Valentines Day
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Stitches don't show much when matching thread is used.
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