I’ve always used appliqué pins. I love working with wool appliqué. I know some people do use fusible or fabric glue, I tried it once and was not successful and found the pieces much more difficult to stitch through with the fusible, pins work for me. I stitch pieces that are over each other to each other first, then stitch to the background.
Heres my first wool appliqué quilt * Backyard Gathering * from Primitive Gatherings quilt shop.
i placed vines/ stems then arranged leaves and everything else just by looking at the layout.