MM, don't be terrified! It's easy. I did the raw edge with a good fusible, and then topstitched a straight stitch right close to the edge just for some extra insurance. It's a quilt on my wall now. If it was one that was going to get a lot of washing, I would have probably done a zig zag over the edge, rather than the straight stitch. Jump in there! The applique is so much fun.
Also, I did QAYG, so it was fun to custom quilt each row rather than wrangling the whole quilt under the needle.