First question, why don't you want to fuse it ????? Lite Heat and Bond works extremely well, you could 'window' the fuse material to make it "less heavy". Second option would been to use Elmers School Glue to keep it in place, works very well and does wash out.....
Are you going to be doing the blanket stitch by hand or by machine (I do all of mine by machine)....
I made a great wall quilt last spring called "Under the Sea" with comical fish and bubbles, all fused and then machine blanet stitched. The fabric was cotton batiks, I used a heavier 30 wt thread (embroidery) and the secret is just go nice and slow so the straight stitch is right next to the raw edge and the other stitch goes into the applique piece. Do a pratice piece till you get a balance you like for how long the vertical stitch is and then the horizonal stitch, that is more a personal choice than anything, and some designs need more and some less. The other issue will be the color of your thread, if you want your stitches to really stand out then use a high contrasting color, I used black, but some times you will want it to blend more. I will see if I can find a picture of my quilt.
But again I would strongly recommend the use of Lite Heat and Bond, that will keep the edge from fraying in the future. IMHO
