Originally Posted by feline fanatic
I don't startch, I use tear away stabilizer when doing a satin stitch like that.
For machine applique, I use tear away stabilizer and paper backed fusible web (Wonder Under). In a pinch, you can use copy paper, but that can dull your needle and it's noisy! I put the needle on the very edge of the piece I'm appliqueing and stitch onto that piece. So for the butterfly, put the needle in the white area next to the pink butterfly and satin stitch on top of the pink butterfly.
I would definitely cut the squares bigger to start with and then cut to size after doing the applique because they seem to always shrink.
You should be able to steam some of the puckers out and you should be able to quilt some out also.
I don't starch much of anything, however, I may begin to because I've read a lot of posts on various topics here and see that lots of people use starch.
You learn something new here every day! :D