I just finished putting my quilt together. I used a walking foot to SITD. I started in the middle of the quilt like someone told me to do. Now what do I do with all that thread hanging from the quilt? I know I just can't cut them off because then it will come undone. Tried to do a search but couldn't find anything that addressed this.

Thanks

BTW- A walking foot is just the bomb :D

You should bury them in between the sandwich (the top and bottom within the batting).

Did you back stitch , when you started and stopped? then you can cut them off. or you can pull them to the back and tie them in knots and then cut them off. Elaine

Nope. My manuel said not to backstitch when using the walking foot.

And how is that done?

If you plan to bury them (which is what I do) then invest in a packet of self threading needles, using these makes it so much easier. You can only use these needles if you use a thimble, but most people do, don't they?

First of all, are the threads on the top or bottom? Well wherever they are, you would thread a sewing needle with these threads and bring the thread back into the backing or the top, depending on where the threads are, almost in the same spot where the threads are. Since you did not secure your threads when you first started, try to make sure you go into the batting as well.

I would suggest from now when you do SITD, back stitch at the beginning and end this way you won't have to bury your threads, you can just snip them. Also, when you start quilting you should be bringing your bobbin thread up to the top, if you haven't been doing that.

I usually do a 2 or 3 stitch backstitch. BUT, I also bury the tails.
Just leave enought to thread a needle. Then "weave" the needle in and out of the batting without bringing the needle up thru the quilt. When you get about to the end of where you think your thread is....bunch up the fabric, bring the needle up and cut the thread. Once you straighten/flatten up the quilt, the thread is hidden

Do others backstitch when using your walking foot? My manuel says not to use the backstitch if using this foot. I don't know why it doesn't say. If I could backstitch a few stitches I would, but not sure if I should try not knowing what it might do to my foot.

What make of machine do you have? I have a Bernina and use my walking foot all the time - sometimes to do just regular sewing, too and I back stitch with no problem whatsoever.

Dingle, how do you manage to make mitered corners on your bindings without sewing in reverse? If you can do that, you can backstitch.

Nex time start with a very very short stitch for the first few stitches and end the same way, then you can cut the threads. One thing to be very sure of is not cut the quilt when snipping the threads. It happens more often then you think and usually to me. :lol:

I backstitch and cut the threads. Never had anything unravel. If possible, I run the stitch off the edge and capture it with the binding.

Love those walking feet! I start and pull my bobbin thread to the top. Then set my stitch length to zero, stitch a couple of times and then change to the stitch length I want to sew and proceed. That should lock you threads and you can clip them.

I have snipped my top toooo. :(

For those of you who like to bury the tails, take a look at this needle:

http://www.spiraleyeneedles.com/

I have purchased them, and I love them! They are easier on your fingers. I know they are expensive, so I am pretty protective, I'm still using my first one and I've had it close to a year. I made a small pin cushion using a pop cap, and that sits on the handlebars of my longarm. They are easy to thread. I also used the needle to snag a red thread that was showing through white fabric: I slipped the needle in just under the thread, and caught it in the hook.

Since they are so unusual, I also bought extras, for secret stitcher exchanges.

cut them and when you do the binding it will catch then that is what i do an i have not had any problem

To avoid this problem, I start in the middle of an edge (say, the middle of the top edge) and sew all the way to the other edge. The second line of sewing is from the middle of a side edge all the way across to the other side edge. When using a walking foot and quilting straight lines, I don't think I would ever start every line smack dab in the middle of the quilt. Hiding all those thread ends would drive me crazy!

Being a newbie and reading this board other posters said to start in the middle and work your way out to the edge. This is suppose to help with the shifting of the sandwich. Does doing it your way not really make a difference?

Thanks

I mentioned this technique in the original thread here (no pun intended!).

Of course, it is always desirable to start quilting in the middle so any excess fabric is pushed to the edge. However, when quilting straight lines that go from one edge to another, it shouldn't matter as long as (1) you have a stable quilt sandwich (2) that your machine feeds evenly.

In my case, I use cotton batting, spray baste with a few pins around the outside edges, and I use a Bernina walking foot with my Bernina machine. This combination feeds very evenly for me.

This method of quilting using a walking foot from one side of the quilt to the other has been around for at least 20 years; I remember reading in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine about the man who pioneered it when machine quilting was still very new. The key is to have a stable quilt sandwich and a walking foot that really does feed the fabric evenly.

I like those much better than the ones I have, the eye is split at the top and if you have to pull very hard to get it through the fabric the thread pulls back out, I think I'll try these.

I just use my usual needles to bury threads.. in the hospital setting we call the split eye needles "French eyes" and I've never cared for them either place. and No, I don't use a thimble.. never got the hang and it's just something else to keep track of.

I always back stitch so I just cut the threads. Otherwise you need to knot them and bury them in the quilt.

I broke one doing a backstitch....expensive lesson :D

usually you drop your needle and bring it back up ,which brings the bobbin thread to the top. then you take small stiches, then trim the threads. then quilt. same when you stop.

Lots of great tips here, thank you :D :D :D

Usually, when I am quilting, I loosen my tension to go through all those layers, and then, I lengthen my stitches to keep the tension good (walking foot) .... If, when you begin sewing, you hold your quilt for a few stitches, the machine will create its own knot OR you can tighten down the length of stitches for two or three stitches, and then lengthen them back up so that your quilt isn't crimped in your stitching.
THis is the way factories do it all of the time. and we don't cut the threads and bury them (factories don't have time <g>), however ... if you are going to use a hand needle to bury your tails? Be sure that you create a knot in your thread before pulling it down into the batting ...you accomplish this (I haven't read everything everyone else wrote, and if I am repeating myself, I apologize, but here we go!)
To create a knot for the inside of your quilt, hold the thread coming from the quilt in one hand, put the needle, in your other hand, pointing toward you ... okay ... I am left handed ... this is how it goes. I have the thread from the quilt in my right hand
I put the needle in my left hand, point the needle toward my right hand, put the needle close to the quilt and using my right hand, wrap the needle three times with the thread from quilt, as close as I can get it, but I am not going to actually worry where the knot comes out, since the next thing I am going to do is hold the wraps with my right hand, while I pull the needle completely through them with my left hand.
when the little knots are all together, almost like a french knot, I point the needle down two threads away from where my last stitch ended, slip the needle into my quilt, most specifically attempting to get it into the batting ...
then, I am going to judge how far my knot is from the quilt and make sure my needle comes out at a farther distance than that knot/quilt distance ... start pulling your needle up to the surface, paying attention to where the knot is going ... it may slide into your quilt sandwich. If it doesn't, a slight tug or two will pull the knot through your fabric (no big hole), and the knot become entangled into the batting ... and VIOLA!
You have just completed one of the basic acheivements of hand quilting, which reminds me of Alex Anderson since she is where I learned this from, and which may have links that might help you understand what I just said ...
If I were reading this, I don't know if I could figure it out, <g> <sigh> but, maybe with a little research of handsewing links you will find pictures of what I tried to explain.
It really is a good thing to know how to do, even if we don't do it in the factory, eh? LOL

You don't have to start your SITD in the center. Your quilt should be pinned well enough you can start anywhere. That being said, you can start at one edge and sew to the other. That way, the ends of your seam will be caught in the binding. If you do need to start in the center part of the quilt, take abut 1/4" of T-I-N-Y stitches - as small as you can get without being "0". If you've ever tried to pick out those kind of stitches you know they aren't coming out! That way you don't build up thread like you would if you backstitch.

Shelley, I am the inventor of the Spiral Eye Needle. Thank you for such a great referral to my product and website.

Well folks, being new to this, when someone said to bury the threads and how to do it thats what I did. Did not see the part where it said (early in the post) to knot the threads first. So, all I did was bury the threads. Now I'm thinking I better not "ever" wash this thing or it will come apart. Since this is my first quilt I guess you just live and learn. :(

If you don't want to backstitch, set your stitch length to 0 or 0.5 and take several stitches on top of each other as you start. THen set your stitch length to what it should be, sew a little, and trim those tails to and bottom. No needle threading or burying needed!

Exactly, that is the good way to do it!

I have taken a couple of machine quilting classes with Paula Reid (who does all of Alex Anderson's quilting). She says to take the very small stitches, as described several times on this thread, at the beginning and end, then trim. I didn't know about having to bury the tails.

when I don't want to backstitch on a block etc I put pressure on the fabric so the needle goes up/down about 3 times in the same spot to take the place of backstitching.

It will be fine. If you happened to run it far enough in to the quilt that you will actually be quilting over it in another direction, it will be better ... the thread will have a hard time backing up out of the batting, so if you must wash, by all means, wash! since you are the one owning the quilt, if you see a thread coming out, just take it over to your sewing machine and stitch EXACTLY over the first line for five or six stitches (another factory technique <g>) that will anchor things quite nicely.
You will be fine, and you have done fine ... you will still be learning something on your fiftieth quilt! That is why intelligent people keep cutting up fabric and sewing it back together! LOL

SOmetimes, when we are SITD, we are going ninety miles an hour ... or just stitching! Then, we decide we want to backstitch and we flip the switch on the fly ... if you take your time backstitching with the walking foot, then you shouldn't break anything ... speed is not your friend at that moment ...
HOWEVER! Having explained that, you have received some pretty good advice about how to anchor stitches from the get-go ...
To recap: Hold the quilt in place for three or four stitches (the machine will knot itself) before allowing it to move forward.
or
start at the very edge of the quilt and stitch across, content in the knowledge that your binding will cross those end stitches at least once and anchor your stitches
or
when you begin your stitching, turn your stitch length down to .5 or 1 for four or five stitches
and, the handwork if that is your choice. this quilt will have been a REALLY good teacher for you, and THAT is a good thing.

I don't backstitch on my mitered corners on my bindings ... I make sure that I have a tail, then I put my needle down before I EVER start to stitch forward ... when I cut the tail on my binding, I leave about 1/2" of thread, just to make a knot work a bit harder to come undone before I do my next round of stitching ...
If my manual said NOT to do something, I wouldn't do it unless I was REALLY sure it wouldn't be messed up ... follow owner's manual until you are confident you know what you are doing .... <g> all of us have little shortcuts we use that may or may not be "kosher" .... and, when someone does something differently than what we think, or is more cautious or more adventuresome ... we have to remember that we are the ones that have to pay the bill if something goes wrong ...
the more you practice piecing and quilting, the more adventurous you will become because you will grow more familiar with all the variables that are in this fine endeavor.

Hope I am not being redundant here, but I wanted to be sure that you are comfortable with your quilting endeavor.
When you are quilting on a machine that has a small throat, the easiest way to handle all the excess quilt is to roll the edges toward the middle in one direction .... if you have pinned your quilt every four to six inches, it is well stabilized to be rolled up and put into the machine. At that point, you can start in the middle at an edge ... but, we didn't mean for you to go to the middle of the middle and work outward ... I'm sorry if we didn't make that clear to you.
I have done quilting with my portable machine and worked from an upper right corner down to the lower left corner, just because I wanted to see if there weren't a better way to handle the quilt ... so, you see ... the advice you get is the best a writer can provide ... but, nothing is written in stone and there are many variations ... some things that work well for me might set another quilter's teeth on edge ... this is after all a WIP (work in progress).
Everyone on the list is on your side, wanting to help you succeed and thrive, so just keep on keeping on ... and, we will be waiting to see your good first effort.
It is obvious that you have taken a lot of time and care to accomplish the feat, be sure to share the finished product with us. <g>

When I bury the tails, it is usually after I finsihed it not started it. I'll look at the nasty little threads on my pretty quilt, terrified to cut them off for fear it will unravel the whole thing. Burying threads means to me, catching that short thread that is ruining the clean look of my project and brining it back into the gutter. Not to sound like I am trying to push my invention, but one of the main uses for my side threading needle is it is easy to catch those threads and simply sew them into the gutter. Spiral eye needles have a small slot ont he side of the eye, this makes it easy to thread, even in tight spots.

yep, bury tails after the quilt is finished ..
so, I have a question: do you tie a knot before you bury the thread in the gutter?
I can see that your needle is a good invention ... it looks like the gap the thread goes into, that gap closes as the needle goes through the fabric, sort of like a clasp, so that the gap isn't catching on batting and fabric. Correct? or is the opening not a factor?
I know what you mean about having TINY pieces of thread to bury ... sometimes, I almost get a headache <g>

back stitch..you gals are just too good. I cut my threads off..but I also stitch around the edges of my quilt to hold the stitching in place. I just don't have alot of patience.