I do needleturn applique by marking my pattern on freezer paper, cutting it out, then pressing it to the right side of my fabric, and draw around the freezer paper, then cut about 1/8" or less around the drawn line. I lay it out on my background, either pin or thread baste to the background and use my needle to turn the fabric along the drawn line. I cut the background fabric behind my applique only because I hand quilt. If you machine quilt, it isn't necessary at all because you won't have difficulty getting your needle through the layers. Happy appliqueing.