Thanks so much for all your comments - I love Celtic applique and have taught it many times. I cut my own bias strips and then use either the bias bars which you can purchase in most quilt shops or the Clover electric machine which turns under the edges, then I add 1/4" fusing agent to the strips, place a Teflon see-through sheet over the paper pattern (you can also use kitchen parchment paper), and fuse the bias directly onto the see-through sheet or paper. The big surprise is when you find you can just lift that off the sheet and arrange it on your background fabric and it will hold it's shape, then you iron it into place with a hot, dry iron. I have machine stitched on both sides of the bias but much prefer the look of hand-stitching and find it so relaxing.