I"m not much of an appliqu-er, but I use this method when I do...even for machine finishing the applique. As you said, it makes neat edges with, for me, less trouble than needle turn, and fewer burnt fingers than turning and pressing! If you want to, you can use fusible interfacing (fabric with glue on one side) as the light weight fabric..put the glue side toward the right side of the fabric when stitching, and when turned right side out, you can fuse the applique to the base fabric so it won't slide when you're stitching it down, and you don't need loads of pins! Also, if you want an applique with some extra oomph on top of the base fabric, you can also add a layer of batting to the applique sandwich! All sorts of options!