I am doing a lot of straight stitching on the leaves for this quilt. There are a lot of stop and starts and a lot of thread being clipped away. I like to bury my threads for a very clean look when I am finished. So I begin each row of straight stitching by pulling the bobbin thread to the surface of the quilt, holding both threads I then begin stitching. When I finish with the row of stitching I stop and bring the bobbin thread to the surface of the quilt and clip both threads.

I take both threads and tie a square knot right at the surface of the quilt and then using a
self threading needle I bury both threads in the body of the quilt. I pull the threads through and bring the needle up to the top of the quilt about a half inch from where I started and clip the remaining threads.

This is very tedious work and I find I can stay at the job better if I am listening to a book on tape or binge watching a Netflix series. It also creates a lot of wasted thread, BUT it makes for a very smooth and clean finish, which is what I want.

I am almost done with all the straight stitching in this section of the quilt and when I come back from my next two teaching engagements I can start free motion stitching some of the designs I marked on the quilt. Slow and steady are the watch words here.