Pepita

I took a class at my local quilt shop. She taught needle turn--called back basting. It is a technique that uses the back of your fabric where you draw the pattern line on the back of the block. You choose the fabric that is the the farthermost back and baste it on to the front using the line drawing on the back and basting the fabric to the front. A bit of a round about explanation. Anyway the piercing of the fabrics and being held with the thread creates a 'memory' to your fabric of where it wants to fold back. I would suggest Google and all the u tube tutorials. Here is a lady who has some nice patterns, and each year she makes a quilt with free patterns on it (other than the center block) and she has lots of posts as to how to applique. http://erinrussek.typepad.com/

Knitette

I can't remember where I saw this, but apparently the best way to practice appliqué is with heart shapes as they incorporate straight lines, curves and inner and outer points.
Then again, you can just take the bull by the horns and go for it - my avatar is my second appliqué project and I loved every minute of it.