Thanks for all the suggestions! Opinions seem mixed, so I think I will try a variety and see what works best for me. I will start without a stencil and see how it goes... I will have to order one anyway since I haven't seen one locally yet. I will try it freehand, with paper, and with stencil/chalk... and I will give the foam brush trick a shot too. Luckily one of the ladies at a local shop gave me some scrap batting so I can start with that, and some clearanced fabric I picked up for practicing.