Jeanette Franz- thanks for your practical experiment on starch vs. not......I test for bleeding the way you do too. Just a glass of hot water and a piece of suspected bleeder.......
Prism99. I don't machine applique using satin stitch much, so I may be way off, but you mentioned tunneling...could that be rectified by cutting out the background to a 1/4" seam after appliquing? When I do occasionally machine applique - not satin stitched however, I do trim that background fabric around from the backside...just to eliminate bulk and allow the appliquéd piece to lay flatter.......