Not sure how anyone else does it as I am also mostly self taught as far as quilting goes. Wherever I end a line of stitching I pull the top thread through to the back and tie the two threads together. Then I thread these two ends into a somewhat large eye needle and poke the needle into a spot as near where I tied as possible and pull the threads between the layers for an inch or more before exiting. Now all that is left to do is cut the thread at the exit point and voila! It's buried.
Sorry no pictures, but I hope this helps.