All of the tips given are fantastic. If you could find someone who is great at it and sit alongside and learn it'd be great. Any problems are solved immediately. I learned on batiks, yes, it was difficult but I didn't know any better. The wet toothpick is a great help if the fabric isn't turning smoothly. Remember to take small stitches:) Practice Practice Practice and you'll do better. Good luck to you. Enjoy.

What a great tip with a toothpick! I will remember this one! Donnamarie thanks for sharing your great tip!

I teach needle turn and it's my favorite. Here are some tips.
Check to see if your thread is too loose (slip the needle under a stitch and pull up, if the thread forms a loop, pull the thread tighter). It's easy to tell too tight--it puckers.
Take small stitches (somewhere between 1/4 and 1/8 inch, depending on how tight a curve is being sewn.)
Clip for inner curves and for outer curves take a "V" shape out of it or cut the seam allowance down to 1/8 inch.
Rather than pinning the patch in place (it moves even when pinned), try several tiny dots of Roxanne's Glue Baste It. That's all I use now. It's water soluble and washes out.
If there is a point you just cannot get to behave, take a stitch into its point. Pull the thread firmly and the point should disappear.
Stick to it. Needle turn does take time to learn, but is extremely rewarding and the results are wonderful.
SandyQuilter

I am making applique quilt blocks that have lots of really tiny things, for which I like to use batik fabric ... it goes exactly where I want it to without shredding. Also, I cheat a bit ...I can do needleturn; however, since I use pins to get exact placement, at the same time I fold the seam allowance under as I go and then just stitch it in place. I have applique pins, but find them to be too tiny and therefore annoying, so I just use silk pins as I do for everything else.

You said you were clipping the curves, but are you clipping often enough? Also, are you trimming your seam allowance small enough. I usually trim to between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. I use YLI silk thread, a small needle (Sharp #9) and take very small blind stitches. See if any of that helps.

Check out Apple blossom quilts site. She has a new DVD coming out soon but my hand applique went from OK to really good ( someone else's evaluation). She also has a great workshop. I asked our program committee to see if they could have her teach a workshop and it was awesome.

I don't do a lot of needle turn applique - prefer instead to use Wonder-Under and then raw edge stitching. That said, I did see a quilt teacher on Simply Quilts years ago who used a toothpick to help with the turning, as the wood in the toothpick grabs onto the fabric easier than a needle might. I can't speak from experience, but thought it was worth mentioning it.

All my applique is needle turn. I was able to take several classes from Nancy Pearson when I lived in Illinois. Her book on applique is fabulous. It is out of print, but I'm sure it is available from Amazon or Alibris.

Thank you for all of the suggestions and the links. I truly appreciate all of the tips!

Finger press your seams thoroughly before you try to applique. Fingerpress, finger press, finger press! Use a damp toothpick to turn under a small amount ahead of where you are going to applique. Keep the toothpick in your mouth so it is always damp. You won't have any points if you do this. It takes time to get used to doing it. but keep at it. It is worth it.