Jan, the TQS BOM last year was a beautiful applique design and I added tutorials for each month on my webshots album. The patterns are no longer available, but you are welcome to go through my tutorials to see if there are any tips that might help you. I just do plain old-fashioned needleturn...no foundations, no glue. Just you and the needle.
Here is a link for January, and there is different info for each month.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562185015aGQwDk?vhost=good-times
You might also want to check out Episode #203 (available on DVD) with Suzanne Marshall for some wonderful applique tips.