Sooooo to everyone who is curious, I've been researching this to try to figure out which technique mom2boyz used LOL.
It seems Cindy Walter does the Snippets technique
http://cindywalter.com/
which involves double-sided fusible to secure the fabric pieces to the "canvas". It says no sewing is actually required, although it would probably be nice to have some thread/quilting on top.
On the other hand, the Confetti technique by Noriko Endo seems to involve scattering (with a plan) skinny strips of fabric onto the canvas (actually the batting), covering the finished design with tulle, and then securing it all with stitching in monofilament thread.
Here's a link to a video (first of three):
http://park19.wakwak.com/~noriko/
Anybody else want to jump in and speculate on the technique?