How I bury SHORT threads... A 'How I do it Tutorial'

One of the blogs I enjoy following, Quilter in the Closet, has begun a new linkup for quilter's to share tips and tutorials. I love the concept and thought I would share her link and add a tip of my own!

The blog is written by Newbie Jen, and today her host-post is a tutorial titled 'How to bury threads' (when Free Motion Quilting). Her procedure is the same as my own. Reading it really made me smile though, recalling how much more time I used to spend doing this in the past, before I discovered self-threading needles! When I first began quilting at my machine, clipping tails was considered a great taboo by the quilting community, and although I was not part of a guild, nor did I show quilts, I read so much about it in magazines, that I thought I must NEVER be caught clipping a seam! Ha Ha!

These days, I do still bury ends most of the time, however if it were not for the self-threading needle it would not be nearly as often. I have become so fast with this needle, I general tuck-as-I-go, when I have stitched just 4 or 5 inches away from my start! I personally think there are safe ways to start and end stitching for utility quilts that look beautiful and will hold up well without tucking; back-stitching, tiny stitching, and back-tracking is more acceptable than in the past as well. Still, for any heirloom or show quilt, tucking is the way I will go!

The tip I want to share with the linkup to 'How I Do It', is how I handle really short tails that result from breakage, or from the inevitable, and dreaded, empty bobbin.

This thread is pretty short, and would be hard to thread in a needle, even a self-threader, right? With the method I use, I can tuck a tail that is less than an inch. Do you know my tip already.. OR...  are you prepared to be amazed?

I take my trusty self-threading needle, and stick it in the in bury point,

grab that little thread, and click it into the eye!

Pull the needle up and trim! Easy Peasy!

When I run out of bobbin thread, I generally lift the thread from the last 8 or 9 stitches, tie and bury them. If I am not in the mood, I start my new thread an inch or so back and do some small stitching to anchor the unsecured stitches..

That's it! Hope you all have a fab Easter weekend -
(I can't wait to show this new baby quilt BTW, calling it Scrambled Nines!)

How bout you, do you bury threads? Join the conversation over at How I Do It!