Christmas hand towel

Part of my Christmas gift to my mom and mother-in-law was a set of holiday hand towels. Well, actually they only got one towel, and a promise for more throughout the year. :)
For their Christmas towel, I stitched GG Designs' Rag-It-Up Pieced Christmas Tree Applique design on a waffle weave towel. They have been washed/dried once, and will continue to fray the more they are used.

For my mom's, I just used one layer of fabric:

For Kathy's I added a layer of white flannel underneath the fabric as Gail suggests:

They are both pretty. I guess I have to decide what I prefer before doing the next one.