Originally Posted by
Peckish
With the needle, you take a giant stitch (under the quilt top, but above or in the batting, don't go all the way to the backing) in the direction you want to go, and bring the needle up almost all the way out of the fabric. Pivot the needle so the point is up in the air pointing towards your face but the eye is still under the fabric. Then push it back down so the eye of the needle is leading the thread under the fabric. Push the needle, eye first, through the quilt top in the spot you want it to be, and pull it through.
I originally misunderstood her directions & found that I can go under the top, come up, flip my needle & go back through the exact same hole. Works even better for me. Cotton fibers have this wonderful property of contracting when exposed to cold dry air so I've found that putting my quilt in a clean paper bag in my car for an hour first really makes that technique super easy since the spaces in the fabric are ever so slightly bigger than they are when the fabric is warm.