Carol Armstrong has a number of wonderful applique books on the market- I think I own 4 or 5 of them- I love her work! there are flowers, vines, birds, cats & dogs...lots to choose from in different books- I always turn to one of her books when I need some inspiration for a project. I seem to applique a lot of borders lately- I generally do the bulk of the applique before adding the border to the quilt (much less to manipulate/deal with) then I add the borders and continue the appliques around the corners. it is much easier to just have to work on a corner than a whole border attached to a quilt.