it is alot easier to stitch appliques- especially when many pieces are involved- first- then layer & quilt as desired. often when using decorative stitches it is more difficult to avoid puckers and tension problems when you have the extra thickness of batting/backing. if you want to give it a try i would put together a small practice piece & try it out first before working on the real thing---decorative stitches are much more difficult to remove if you don't like how it comes out- so practice first - that way you can make sure your tension is right & you are not getting puckers