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Quilter's Knot
  
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Do you know how to make a Quilter's Knot? It is easy and produces a good knot that can be easily popped through a layer of fabric and hidden in the batting when hand quilting, used to start and end your stitches as you bind, or used to secure your thread in needleturn applique.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so look at the photos as you read these directions.

Note that the needle is threaded, and the thread is held in such a way that it forms a circle, back to the needle.

step 1

  • Wrap 3 or 4 times around the needle
  • Secure by pressing the wrapped thread against the needle with the forefinger of your hand
  • Pinch the needle with thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand and push the needle through the pinched fingers
  • Pull the needle past the "pinchers" until you have reached the end of the thread
  • You should feel and see a knot at the end with a short tail
  • Note: try 3 wraps for most threads, but modify if the knot doesn't feel right.

step 2

To use this knot at the end of a series of stitches, as in binding:

  • Stitch to your stopping point, leaving several inches of thread on the needle
  • Take a small stitch into the seam allowance of the quilt back
  • Pierce the fabric taking one small stitch towards the area inside the binding
  • Wrap the thread around the needle tip 3 times
  • Push the needle through as for a French Knot
  • End by inserting the needle into the seam and batt of the quilt and make one long exit "stitch" bringing the thread up and out through the binding fabric
  • Trim the thread flush with the binding being careful not to cut the binding fabric

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