It's very easy to stick an empty needle into your quilt along the same path you want the buried thread to run. Leave the eye sticking out close to your thread 'stub' and use a simple wire needle threader to thread it. Once threaded, just pull the needle through the top/batting as usual. The short end will bury itself as it pulls out of the needle. If you can run it back through the quilting line, it'll be more secure. I've done this with ends as short as a half inch and they are still buried after five years.
Last edited by ghostrider; 11-04-2014 at 12:43 PM.