applique was my passion before I startedlosing my sight. I honed my techniques early with one of Georgia Bonsteel's series, I think she showed 8 or 11 different ways.
Starch and press was my favorite, takes awhile to prep, the the applique, but the hand or machine goes like wildfire.
fusiable is my least favorite, threads always show up after washing.
Did Dutch Treat all back basting, still hated the technique when finished
Have a whole garden quilt done Eleanor Burns way with the light interfacing, then you turn it. Gorgeous, but I doubt it will ever be quilted, they are just too thick
edited to add: Diane Gaudynski was an early winner at AQS for machine applique, I think the n ame of the quilt was Butternut. I learned a lot from her about using the buttonhole machine stitch to good effect, and did all my Maggie Walker Chickens using that technique.
As said above, whatever you do, it takes practice to do it well.