They are protected in the seam line, and I don't think they would unravel. Your seams don't come unraveled, and these stitches aren't getting as much stress put on them. The stitches from the binding cross over them and that also helps to stop them from coming undone :D:D:D

I have done different methods. Lock stitch, run it into a seamline, and my favorite is to start and stop at the edge of the quilt so the ends are enclosed in the binding.

I agree, it depends on what you are quilting, how it is going to be used and what method of quilting you are doing. If I am doing ditch work, I use a smaller needle and usually backstitch to start and stop. If I am doing a fill design, I also try to start in a seam and will backstitch is I am using a walking foot or a regular foot, but... if I am doing FM then I usually just do 5 or 6 very tiny stitches. Also, sometimes the fabric makes it easier to do one method over another. I'm currently quilting some large borders on a king size quilt that is brown with some tiny flowers and blue and rust colored grid lines. I found that is I use some embroidery thread that is a bit darker than the lines on the border, just do walking foot quilting I can start in a bit and then do 2 back stitches and it is not at all noticiable.

But then if the project you are working on has any posibility of being entered into a show,fair or anywhere, where it will be judged you will want to knot and bury. I sort of learned this the hard way, and have to say that it is a bitter pill to swallow when backstitching keeps one of your star quilts out of the competition.

Good luck, i'm sure you will pick the right method for your project. I find it interesting that many of us use several methods.

I found that if I hold the fabric back at the start of a line of stitching, the stitches are very small. Then I don't have to fiddle with the stitch length control. In other words, have a tug of war with the feed dogs.

The trick to burying threads is to use a self threading needle. If you don't have much thread tail, sew the needle in first, before you thread it.

Work from the back, knot the two threads together, and stitch them back into the last hole they came from. Run the needle through the batting (between the layers) until the knot pops into the fabric. Come up and cut off the thread right there.

I take a few inches of stitches forward, following whatever design I'm quilting, then go back and bury the thread tails with a self threading needle. Resume quilting and end the same way. I do this for all my projects as I think it looks the nicest.

My Pfaff has a lock stitch for beginning and ending and that's what I use almost exclusively.

I like to pull the bobbin thread up to the top and do 4 or 5 teeny stitches. Sometimes I'll do teenies before I turn a corner, too.

These are all such terrific ideas!! I've sure learned a lot from reading all of these posts.

Thanks everyone,

Karla