Hiding threads

[dizedd]

Hello all. I am a new quilter, and I've been teaching myself FMQ via online classes. As I learn, I have been trying to practice hiding my threads as well. After a 100 plus attempts, I have only managed to do it neatly about five times. Cheater needles are shredding my thread and making it too short to knot. Bringing the bobbin thread to the top when I am finished is beyond me [doing it at the beginning is easy and fine] Are experienced machine quilters really going through this horrible process every time they break thread instead of beginning and ending with micro stiches ? Any thoughts on whether it's ok to just give up on learning this tiny detail would be greatly appreciated.

[Tartan]

​It is completely up to you. Many do micro stitches but I still like to knot my threads and bury them.

[Jeanne S]

Unless you plan on entering your quilts in shows, micro stitches work great! I usually quilt edge to edge so my stops are covered by binding, but if I do have a stop, I just back stitch a couple and cut the thread.

[DOTTYMO]

For a show you would have to tie off and hide in fabric. I always ensure these ends are about 6" in length long enough to tie and pull through until the knot goes pop into the fabric. I would say you are not leaving enough tail. I dislike the cheats needle I use a needle with a large eye. Length of thread depends how long this needle is.

If quilt is for friends etc I micro stitch and cut off. As long as the threads are securely fastened no problem.

[dizedd]

Thank you all for the advice. I don't see any show quilts in the near future for me, so I'm going to backstitch and use micro stitches for now-and buy some big eyed needles to keep practicing with!

[Maureen NJ]

I micro stitch too. No show quilts yet. It's taken me a lot of time to figure out how to bring bobbin thread to top in middle of piece. Hope this makes sense and is helpful. Do micro stitches. Needle up, presser foot up. Pull quilt away from stitching area about 8". Go back to stitching area and put needle down in last hole. Needle up. Pull up bobbin thread - about 4". You will have continual loop. Cut bobbin thread and top thread at farthest point from needle. Move quilt top several inches and you will see one bobbin thread disappears and the other stays. You can now clip the top and bobbin threads which are on the quilt top. Move your top to the next FMQ position and bring the bobbin thread up and start FMQ. Good luck.

[toverly]

I micro stitch. It's just easier and faster. If anything comes out when in use, it's only fabric and can be restitched. So far I haven't had any long threads appear that need to totally be reworked.

[nabobw]

I also hide my threads. I do use a cheater needle but I use spiral eye needles as they do not shred my thread. I order them from spiraleyeneedles.com. They are a little expensive but for me well worth the price.

[sewbizgirl]

Life is too short to bury all those thread tails! I just trim close to the quilt. No problems, so far.

[dunster]

I watched a video with Karen McTavish and another well known longarm quilter - can't remember who - and Karen claimed that she doesn't bury her threads. I find that hard to believe, at least for her show quilts. When I quilted on a DSM I didn't bury mine either, but on the longarm I find it's pretty easy to do. I do use the self threading needle, and occasionally the thread gets shredded, but usually it works great. I think if it shreds all the time you might need to try a different needle, since that one may have a burr. Also try pressing the thread more gently into the eye. I bought one of the spiral eye needles but seldom use it, since I have good luck with the others. But I see no problem with securing your stitches in another way, whether by micro stitches or by stitching backwards along the original stitch line. And certainly end your line of stitching off the edge of the quilt if you can!