The quilt is beautiful. Looking at the link it appears it is raw edge applique; so the applique stitching will show on the back if you quilt first. However it is a wall hanging, you generally aren't looking at the back of a wall hanging. Since this is your first raw edge applique I would do as the LQS sugguested; it should be more stable to work on that way and give you less frustration. Just my opinion though.