I've been working on block 10 of the Florabunda pattern published by Erin Russek (check our her blog here http://erinrussek.typepad.com/).  I've gotten 3 of the 12 stems appliqued down and am having a mental block that I just need to work through.  Stems just aren't fun to sew down.  They should be uniform in witdh and the methods used to achieve this are the parts of applique that I dislike.  The thing I really like about applique work is that it need not be exacting. Flower petals aren't necessarily all the exact same size, shape and color.  Actually, varying the size, shape and color slightly makes the whole piece more interesting.  But, stems are generally more uniform, which means they would be better if prepared by sewg and ironing before sitting down to sew.  And, I just don't find that part of the process relaxing and I am doing this project as evening relaxation.  So, I need to make the time to do the prep work so I can take the time to do the relaxing part.  It's all just part of the process.