I start quilting with a stitch length of almost nothing - say .5 or whatever your machine has that is ALMOST nothing. I stitch tht for about 1/4", and then increase the stitch length to normal, then back again to small at the end of the line of stitching. Th small stitch doesn't build up like if you back stitched, and if you've every tried to pick out stitching that small, you know it's not going ANYWHERE! Then I trim the ends of thread even with the fabric, and have not had problems with it .