Actually, I have done this on bed quilts that get regular wear. They hold up beautifully. However, I did whip stitch the slit back together before I sandwiched it for the background quilting. That bit of extra time is so worth the extra-special look.

fusible fleece

Have you thought about rouging?

You could draw around your flowers on wonder under, then cut the wonder under pattern out and trim the center out of it down to about 1/8". Then line it up on the back of your flower and fuse it. Then pull the paper off the wonder under, turn it over right side up on your quilt and press it down about 3/4 of the way around. Then put a little stuffing inside and flatten it around then press the rest way around flower. Is this clear as mud? It makes sense to so hope it does to you too. Good luck.

I learned from my grandmother to cut a small slit in the bottom fabric and stuff it with poly stuffing to the height you want the top and then whip stitch the back closed. Makes a nice look.

I would begin to sew down the fabric of the applique piece and leave a small opening...stuff a TINY bit of polyfil between the applique and the quilt top (enough to just give you the amount of pouf you want for the flower) and then finish your raw edge applique stitching. This way you would not have a cut in the back of your quilt. A friend of mine has done several quilts this way but she has always done it before the quilt is completed but I think this would work in your case too.

Pat

That's the way I would do it too. Just push a little polyfil in with a crochet hook, move it around to where you want it to puff, and continue sewing.

You might add some yo-yos for the centers of your flowers. They give a nice two dimensional look. Or make a separate layer of flower fabric, cut double and then fused together so that you have the same fabric on both sides and then sew it down in the middle. Then add your yo-yos or a button for a three dimensional look.