For larger appliques I use the fusibles made for doing that, but for making smaller things (like the hummingbirds and flowers in my avatar) I use glue sticks (learned about this when taking a class) -- and I don't worry about going to the edge with the glue stick, just sew very slowly, which has to be done because the pieces are so small. The concept of having stiff stuff in the quilt when it's done is awful! Also, I hate involving chemicals in my quilting... Not only do I have reactions sometimes, but I don't want to pass chemicals on to whoever gets the quilt!!!