Originally Posted by DonnaCee
I just finished a quilt that I had done the stitch in a ditch method on. I'm a fanatic about hanging thread ends. How can I begin and end my stitching and secure it neatly and tightly and still be able to hide the thread ends in the quilt? I've tried taking a few stitches in place but it leaves a little knot of thread that is hard to pull back into the quilt. Is this question about as clear as mud? Hope everyone can understand what I'm asking. DC
When I begin to stitch, I let the needle go down and up once, then pull up the bobbin thread and, holding both threads carefully, take 2 stitches in place. then I continue to sew until I need to stop, either to put in a new bobbin, or because I've finished that space. When I've finished a space, I take another 2 stitches in place, pull it out of the machine leaving about an 8" tail on the top and bobbin. After I'm done with the quilting, I thread those starting two threads, take them right down into the hole they came out of to the back. Then I gently place the needle right back into THAT same hole and bury it between the layers just like when you hand quilt. Take the thread to about 1 inch from where you put it into the backing fabric, and snip it close to the backing. For the ending stitches, I take the top thread straight down to the backing, add it to the bobbin thread that's sitting under there, and do the same thing I do with the starting two threads. Now, was THAT clear as mud??? LOL Hope it was clear enough to understand. I NEVER snip my stitches close to the knots I've made. It doesn't take much manipulation for those little knots to come right out!!!