Originally Posted by Country Quilter
Hanging on to the upper thread, put the needle down through the quilt and back up again, then slightly tug on the upper thread and the bobbin thread should pop up thru the quilt, then you should be able to either slide a scissors under the foot and "grab" it or I use a crochet needle too.
That's how I do mine, too...then, I pull out about 5 inches of both and hold on while I make the first few stitches with the machine.