I just went through that process with a King size scrappy quilt. Despite having trimmed the blocks before adding them to the quilt, by the time I was done with it and the borders there were lots and lots of loose threads.

I laid the quilt out on the dining table where I could do 1/2 the width at a time (and perhaps 1/5 the length). With a small thread snip in my right hand, and tape wrapped around my left fingers, I would snip then stick them to the tape.

A long tedious process, but I was sending the top to an LA. If I was quilting it myself on my longarm I wouldnt have bothered because I float my tops and I could have flipped it to remove any offending theads when quilting.

For me, it was worth it. I know how discusted I would have been if I saw threads showing through after spening so much time on the quilt. Better safe than sorry.

I trim as I'm piecing and again before quilting. It takes a while if it sits in my pile getting bumped. But it is worth it to me. I used to send out to LAQ and made sure that there were hardly any loose ravel sorry threads. Nevertheless, there would be some by the time she unpacked it and got it set on the LA. I can't make myself only do the darker strings, I go after them all!!

Thanks, Tartan! That is very tiny. Will try the other, (Clover Pic) but have bookmarked the Boye. I'm sure Marci J's post has helped a lot of us!

Okay, so as a beginner quilter, this is something that did not even cross my mind! I love coming on to this board every day and learning all the tricks, tips and suggestions of more experienced quilters! Thank you all!

You can also use one of the ultra fine hooks used by stylists when colouring hair and pulling very fine sections of hair through a rubber cap. You can pick them up in Sally, really fine and cheap.

I trim as I go but those little b________ keep reappearing when I come to sandwiching. I try to remove as many as possible but I think they breed once you leave them alone.

I trim as I go along. Seems like it takes less time.

I try to trim my loose threads on all my quilts but I think it is a personal choice.

I have had quilts arrive to be quilted, which, when put under tension on the quilting frame, have opened up at the seams because the threads were cut too short. When I cut I usually leave almost an inch.