How to Bury Threads
Part of the magic of quilting, especially free motion quilting and ruler quilting, is that the stops and starts are invisible. But how does the quilter secure their threads without back stitching? The secret is burying threads! Let me show you how easy it is.
Burying threads is a wonderful way to secure the starts and stops of your quilting as well as make them invisible. This is also handy if your bobbin runs out of thread, your thread breaks, or if you want to unpick and try again. All you need is a sewing needle and a bit of scrap thread.
Video
Directions
To bury your threads, start with a sewing needle and a bit of scrap thread (4-6 inches). Thread the needle and tie a knot, forming a small loop.
When I first started burying threads, I would use a needle with a big eye so I could thread all the threads through the needle– but sometimes it was too bulky to pull through the fabric. Then I tried self threading needles– which were great… except for when they came unthreaded. This is the “lasso” method, and I think it’s the easiest. I keep a needle with a lasso handy at all my machines, making it super easy to bury threads as I go along.
If desired, knot the thread tails flush with the surface of your quilt. Take the thread tails you want to bury and pass them through the loop of thread (if you’ve ever used the blue floss threader to get dental floss under braces or bridge work, this is the same concept). Insert the tip of the needle at the base of the thread tails and run the needle under the quilt top for an inch or so before rocking it back through the surface of the quilt top. Pull the needle, thread loop, and thread tails under the quilt top and back through the surface. Give an extra little tug to pull the knot through, too, if you tied a knot. Trim the thread tails flush with the quilt top, and voila!
