How do you stop and start your quilting?
 

I have been concerned with the way I end my quilting. I have a Brother machine and it has it so I can have it cut the threads. Does some kind of knot first. Then I just cut the leftover thread ...
Do I need to tie them and hide each one in quilt?
Sometimes I am starting and stopping in each block or just different places to do different designs.
Would love new ideas on this...
Thanks in advance for your feedback..
Darlene

I knot my threads, leaving about 3 inches of thread, after I take the quilt off the machine and use a needle with the slot in the top to slide the two threads and then bury them. If I finish sewing on the side of the quilt or and edge, I will do two stitches back to lock then I don't have to bury the threads, just clip them off.

I bury mine as well. I do a section at a time, making a game of it ("when I finish this section, I get to bury the threads!") I usually stand up to do that so it gets me out from behind the sewing machine for a few minutes.

I take several very short stitches (3-4) and then cut the threads off. Have never had a seam undone. If I was going to make a quilt for a competition, then I would bury the threads.

Unfortunately, most machines that have a "locking stitch" only stitch in the same place, and if you cut that off, you lose the locking, that is why I use the several short stitches.

I agree with Patchsamkim. I dial my stitch length down to between 0-1, take 4-5 stitches, then roll the dial to 3-4, cut the thread ends. after doing this for several lengths of stitching, it will become more natural to use your right hand to change the stitch length without moving your left hand holding the quilt in place. I use a mechanical (non-computerized) Bernina 1031 mostly.

Jan in VA

I'm with Jan and Patchsamkim. That process works best for me.

I bury my threads. I don't mind this tedious process. Sometimes I need something mindless to do

jan, do you back stitch with those short stitches?

another one here who buries her thread. My machines also have the cutting feature but I don't like the tiny threads they leave hanging on the back.

I use the auto cutter, but i lift the presser foot and move the quilt over a few inches and then drop the PF and then cut it. That leaves longer threads to tie and bury. Takes no time at all especially if you have a knee lift.

If I am straight stitching (like a crosshatching) and the ends finish at the edge, I don't do anything special as the binding will secure any ends there. If I am fmq, I just do a few stitches in place and then cut off the ends.

this has been a great thread... lots of info!! Thanks everyone!!

Thank you all for your input... this helps me a lot...

I bury as I go for areas that show. For baby quilts, I often backstitch a few stitches just to insure a stronger, more washable quilt.

I feel safer and more professional if I bury the knot, then pull through the sandwich, too.

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 .

This is the way I do it. Bring bobbin thread to top and then take a couple short stitches and then cut the threads--I end doing the same thing---short stitches and then cutting the thread.

This has been a subject pressing on my mind, I DON'T WANT TO BURY THREADS! I always do, but have to master the small stitch method for sure.

I do the same, using about 4-5 micro stitches. My Bernina is computerized and has a "favorites" memory where I have set up my micro stitch configuration and my regular stitch configuration. I am able to toggle back and forth with one touch between the two. This is my favorite feature in my Bernina! The nice thing is that as I finish a seam using the micro stitches, as soon as I start the new seam, the micro stitches are already engaged. Then I just toggle back to regular length stitches. If you don't have this feature on your machine, just do it as Jan described.

You're a poet and don't know it. LOL

I bury, also.

I leave lots of thread on the back, then put a knot in those two top and bottom threads, about an inch up from the quilt and bury them in the quilt. All the threads I cut off I put in my flower gardens, the birds use them when nesting. (Every couple of years we take the bird houses apart and clean them out, repaint and put them back - they need doing again this year, [ATTACH=CONFIG]415907[/ATTACH] that is how I know they use the threads).

Depends on what I'm sewing. If it's utilitarian, I back stitch. Show quilt, I bury the knot. At the edge, I quilt off the front and let it be caught in the binding. FMQ, stitch in one place and start with tight stitches. I'm into "get er done".

This is exactly what I do. My Juki's thread cutter cuts the ends nice and short... then I go back with my curved scissor and snip them.

I've buried threads in the past, but with my ADD this made me absolutely crazy. I've decided for non-competition quilts, especially these first few that I'm learning on, I'm going with the method of pull the bobbin thread to the top, make 1/4 inch of micro stitches, clip the threads, then move on to a more regular stitch length. For ending, the technique I learned this weekend is similar - 1/4 inch of micro stitches, then move the quilt over (~1/8-1/4 inch) and tug on the top thread to pop the bobbin thread up - and trim the bobbin thread loop (no need to pull much of the bobbin thread up - just enough to clip) and trim the top thread. That way I don't have to did around under the quilt to clip the bobbin thread.

I'm sewing mainly on my Bernina 830 Record and don't have a backstitch.

Cheers, K