I would help to see the quilt top. In general, it is best to do some allover stabilizing before doing close quilting, because the close quilting will cause the quilt to draw up and then it will be hard to keep it square and avoid puckers. This is why quilters sometimes stitch in the ditches around all the blocks before starting the more detailed quilting. As for outlining the applique, I think that is a design choice. It's usually done to make the applique "pop". But if the applique pieces are really large it might be advisable to do some quilting inside them somehow. Buttons and other embellishments are usually added after the quilting is complete so that they don't interfere with quilting.