what is the best way to secure machine quilting threads on the finished product?

After quilting the quilt (by machine) and you turn it over to the back...to clip the thread ends...how far do you clip the threads? I either do 2-3 back stitches to secure the threads or my machine has that "tack" stitch where you press it and it "tacks" about 5 times in the same place than stops. But still...either way, there are very short threads on the back. 1/4" maybe. Do I cut them back to the fabric or leave them as is? Leaving them as is...if the thread is not exact match...looks rather sloppy.

I am my own worst critique and I do my quilts with the thought in my head..."would I pay $100 for this quilt?". If the answer is no, I redo. If I were going to buy the quilt... I would not want those threads showing as it looks sloppy, but...if I cut them to close..the stitching might unravel.

So...experts...what is the best way to secure machine quilting threads on the finished product?

Hi Cheri,
I'm not even close to being an expert....and I'm also picky about threads and such too. If you are tacking them by either method you mentioned, I think you're safe to snip them very close. Hopefully some of our quiltin sistahs have advice too. These are awesome quilters..... so I'm eager to see what they say.

I bring up my bobbin thread when I start to the top and make sure I have a couple of inches of both threads...when ending I raise my needle and move a couple of inches out and then cut my thread so I have a couple of inches left.....every couple of hours of quilting I stop and bury my threads in the middle of the quilt using a needle (betweens) and hand quilting thread and I thread both ends into the needle so I form a loop on the other side of needle.....I go into last hole with needle....just under top or bottom for about one inch and come back up.....shove the thread ends into loop and pull thru...clip where they come up....thread ends now buried in the middle of quilt

lilmouse does the beautiful, correct procedure...but...i'm way too lazy for that and just clip my thread tails as close to the quilt as possible (I secure the stitches by either of 3 methods: backstitching, short stitches, or (least preferable because of the knot), stitching in place.)

Thanks for telling us newbies the correct way to do it. I'm still in the "giveaway-take it or leave it" stage of my quilt making, but when I step it up a notch in skill level, I'll remember this technique.

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Originally Posted by lilmouse

I bring up my bobbin thread when I start to the top and make sure I have a couple of inches of both threads...when ending I raise my needle and move a couple of inches out and then cut my thread so I have a couple of inches left.....every couple of hours of quilting I stop and bury my threads in the middle of the quilt using a needle (betweens) and hand quilting thread and I thread both ends into the needle so I form a loop on the other side of needle.....I go into last hole with needle....just under top or bottom for about one inch and come back up.....shove the thread ends into loop and pull thru...clip where they come up....thread ends now buried in the middle of quilt

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That's how I hide the thread ends when hand sewing, like hemming or adding buttons etc. I knot it, then needle it through an inch and out and pull and snip and then it slides right back under nether. Never thought about that for this! Thanks for the tip.

Lil Mouse must have watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3gl4K8Z7XM

I have to admit that even though I know how to do this and have practiced a bit, I just cut mine off close to the back because my machine does stay stitch (fix).

I always pull the bottom thread to the top and leave at least 2 inchs of thread of both the top and bottom thread. These threads are buried in the quilt and then clipped close so no tail is left behind. Hope that helps.

If the quilt is for me or the family, I start by bringing the bobbin thread through to the top, sew about six/seven stitches on the smallest stitch length on my machine (0.5 in my case), increase stitch to 3.00 and finish the row with six/seven small stitches. If I was making the quilt for exhibition I would bury the tails like the descriptions above. But, I am no expert!

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Originally Posted by Sandy Navas

Lil Mouse must have watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3gl4K8Z7XM

I have to admit that even though I know how to do this and have practiced a bit, I just cut mine off close to the back because my machine does stay stitch (fix).

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WOW Thanks so much for this link Sandy! I bury all of my threads and have NEVER thought of tying them both together and then bringing them through with that loop is genius. What a timesaver that will be! I have been knotting and popping them through separately. I have a tablerunner that is in the quilting stage and I will surely be using this method when I start burying threads. I haven't been using the stay stitch on my machine, because sometimes it creates a knot on top that seems a bit difficult to bury.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sandy Navas

Lil Mouse must have watched this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3gl4K8Z7XM

I have to admit that even though I know how to do this and have practiced a bit, I just cut mine off close to the back because my machine does stay stitch (fix).

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Thanks for that link. I didn't know how to hide my end of the threat when I'm handquilting. Quilting by machine, the machine fixes it.

Glad there is YouTube.