Originally Posted by feline fanatic

No need to lock really tiny stitches. Several in a row of teeny tiny are pretty much self locking, they just don't come out, which is a real pain should you decide you need to take them out (ask me how I know). I am talking tiny enough to not even be able to get your seam ripper into and darn near impossible to get a pin or needle under. They don't come out on their own when they are that small. Even yanking on either the top thread or the bobbin thread with tweezers they tend to not pull out. You only need about 4 or 5 stitches. Often what I do when machine quilting on my DSM is take a few stitches, increase the stitch length, take a few more stitches then increase the stitch length again. If I am FMQ with the feed dogs down I just barely move the fabric sandwich for the first few stitches then FMQ normally.