Tie Offs Tutorial

Good morning.  I got a lot of queries about tie offs yesterday when I posted about finishing up my Another Year of Schnibbles project.  What are they?  What did I mean, that I needed to do them? 

Here's the deal.  When you do machine quilting, you end up with long threads at the beginning and end of your stitching lines.  You do not want to just clip the dangling threads off flush to the fabric, because over time, your stitching will come out.  Maybe not all the way out, but enough to spoil the look of your quilting design.  So, a secure way to get rid of the long threads  and to secure your stitching is to do "tie offs".

I am by no means an expert on this subject.  I have not been machine quilting very long, and I am not particularly skilled at it.  However, someone who is an expert (Marie at Prairie Queens) showed me her method, and this is how I do tie offs.  I did what I could to take decent photos of the process, but it is tricky to do these close up shots!  Hope you can get the idea.

So, pretend this is the back of your quilting project:

See those arrows pointing to two of the dangling threads?  If you lightly tug on the thread, you should be able to pull through a little loop of thread that is the corresponding top thread that is dangling away on the top side of your project.

See how if you lightly pull on it, the loop starts to appear?  You just need to use a pin or your stiletto or something like that to tease that top thread the rest of the way through to the bottom.

In the photo above you can clearly see that the top thread has been pulled through to the bottom side of the quilt.  Now you have two threads dangling on the bottom side of your quilt!

So, now you must tie off those threads using a square knot.  Don't know how to tie a square knot?  Google it, or ask a Cub Scout.

Not a great image, but trust me, what you see there is me in the process of tying a square knot.

So, now you have two dangling threads tied in a square knot.  Think you can snip those tails of thread off and be done?  Oh no. We are not finished.  We must make that knot disappear.

Get out your needle threader (or you can get an easy threading needle that is slotted at the eye and you can just pull the threads through).

Crummy picture, but the two ends of the thread are through the needle threader, and soon will be through the eye of the needle.  We are going to bury that knot and the threads.

Stick the needle right into the last hole made by your sewing machine needle and poke it through an inch or so through the middle of your quilt sandwich.

Pull the two  threads taut, listen for the little sound of "pop" as the knot gets pulled through, and snip off the end of the threads.

You have just eliminated all evidence of your dangling threads and the little knot too.

And just so you know, if you want to, you can pull these threads through and do this same process on the topside of your quilt.  It does not have to be done on the back side.  The tie offs are completely invisible, so you can do it either side of the quilt.

Hope this was helpful, and not too boring.  But really, tie offs are tedious.... Seriously?  The seventh level of Hell?  That would be having to do tie offs through all of eternity.  You know those nightmare dreams you have when you are sick, where you do some repetitive thing endlessly?  Yup, that would be tie offs.  Sorry, that's just me.  If you love tie offs, God bless you.

 

 

Comments

[Coralie]

Thank you for very clear pictures,will be
trying this tomorrow,Regards,Coralie

[Nancy Watkins]

Thanks for the tutorial and tips!

[Suzan]

Excellent tutorial! I love my easy threading needles. Makes a horrible job so much easier!!

[Barbara Anne]

Thanks for the excellent tutorial and for the morning chuckle. God bless you whether you enjoy tie offs or knot (bruu-HaHa! Sorry, my father's corny joke affliction just surfaced).

Hugs!

[Jan]

And this is just one more reason we're all so happy to have you back blogging! Thanks for a straightforward, practical tutorial! Does anyone really love tie off's? I'd say they're more of a necessary evil!

[Mary on Lake Pulaski]

I do my tie offs exactly the same way Nicole!

[LoriD]

That was great to see it step by step. I have to add, life is too short for me to do it! LOL

[Anita]

Thank you!

[Kathy L]

Thank you so much. I have been tying and clipping and hoped no one would notice, I will be using this from now on.
Sincerely, Kathy in Tucson.

[Amy]

I do almost the same technique you do, except instead of a square knot, I tie a "quilter's knot" like when I'm quilting by hand. Here's a tutorial on it -

http://www.purlbee.com/quilters-knot-how-to/

I loop the threads around once when I'm doing both tails at the same time.

[Erica]

Good tutorial. It is one of those steps that a lot of us take for granted and have no idea that newer and/or self-taught quilters might not have a clue. You made it easy for everyone to understand. Are you going to show us the front of your quilt?

[Norine]

Thank you so much for the tutorial. I've heard it before, but never understood it. Now I got it! Thanks.

[Candace]

Great tutorial and wonderful idea, Nicole! I've always just stitched a few stitches in place and have never liked the way that looks!
Cheers!

[sillysally]

Good information to know! I had a rough idea of what that was, but now I know for sure! Thanks for the step-by-step instructions.

[Elaine S.]

Thanks for the instruction.....this is much better than what I have been doing.

[CarlaHR]

Thanks - now I know what to do when I advance to more sophisticated machine quilting. Since I've only machine quilted one quilt so far and it was all on a continuing grid I was able to back stitch in the seam allowance.

[Lillian C.]

Thanks for documenting this. I learned this technique from a quilter at the International Quilt festival in Long Beach but forgot about it.

[Julie in WA]

Thank you for an excellent post on a tedious subject. I have been just back-stitching with the machine at the beginning and the end, knowing full well that it was not what I would call a proper procedure. Your method of hiding the knots looks simple to do and could even be enjoyable if the right dvd is playing!

[Debbie R.]

Hi Nicole,
Thanks for the tutorial. I knew I couldn't just leave those threads hanging, or cut them off either. I did come up with my own method for dealing with them, but think yours is better, and will adopt it. Thanks.
I've been AWOL for a few days, so am just catching up on your posts. Your Blueberry Crumb Neighbourhood is terrific! Was happy to read about your excellent little vacation, and to see your wonderful barn quilt score. What a find! Also, thanks for that photo of the red and white nearly insane quilt. Fabulous. It's so beautiful that I don't think anyone would be at all insane to want to make one.
Thanks, always, for your interesting, informative and entertaining blogging.

[Christine Thomas]

Yep, that's what I've been doing for years; just didn't know it was an actual technique according to anyone else. I LOVE that needle though. As one who has "old people's farsightedness", that needle is the perfect thing. Cool beans.

[Thelma]

Wow, I learned so much, I had no idea what tie off's were, let alone what to do about them. I'm good now. Are you getting tired of hearing how much you were missed, I'm so glad you're back to blogging!

[Ann]

Thank you for such a clear, easy-to-follow tutorial. I'm fairly new to machine quilting and this will be very helpful. And I have to get some of those needles!