loriea

I started what I thought was going to be a quick quilt. I bought a pattern that has alternating blocks of nine patch and appliqued bumble bees. I love that black, white and yelloe together. I tried to applique the parts of the bees and ended up with some fraying around the edges. So on to plan B. I tried to turn under the edges, that did not look so hot either as some pieces are small like the eyes, antennae etc. Try plan C. I made the body and wings using the iron on interfacing. ( right sides together, sew and slit open facing and turn right side out. Ok for the bigger pieces , smaller pieces have too much bulk. Then I tried to machine applique assembled bees onto background. Now the bees are too bulky making the background squares too small to match up with the 9 patch squares. Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I have made what looks like confetti out of my black fabric, the white background hs pieces that are too small and the yellow has been put together and taken apart so many times it is looking frayed and dingy. So can anyone help with applique? How can I have edges that don't fray and not have too much bulk ? Thanks for any suggestions you can give me, these silly bees have taken me almost 3 weeks and all I have to show is rejected scraps.