A friend is doing some decorative hand quilting on a finished machine-quilted project, and can't figure out how to conceal the knots on her thread at the beginning of the hand work. She won't be quilting through the backing (different color of hand quilting thread from the backing). She's tried popping the knot through but the fabric is too closely woven for this to work.

Advice?

Dana

Will she be able to get at the back of the quilt? Some people don't use knots. They catch the 'tail' in their upcoming stitches, but if the stitches are covered by backing, this method won't work. Or she could pull the knots really tight to make them smaller, and they may pull through.

or she can start with a couple tiny stiches then back stitches to secure them and then you keep going.

Ditto, and the tail can be pulled under the top fabric with a needle too.

Since the piece is already machine quilted, I would not use knots at all.

Start at a point close to where you want the hand stuitching to start. Insert the needle into the batting and weave the tip in and out between the quilted stitches AWAY from where you want to be.

Then make a shart U-turn and weave it back again to where you want the hand stitching to start. Bring the needle up and start the hand work. The machine quilted stitches in combination with the sharp U-turn will be enough to secure the thread very well. Repeat the process at the end of the hand work.

It sounds like a lot of bother, but it goes very quickly once you get the hang of it and it works perfectly. No knots and very secure threads.

Thank you all very much for your suggestions. Very helpful!

Dana