Patent ID: 8061288

Claim:
A method of operating a quilting machine having at least one stitching element pair that each includes a needle and a looper, to control needle thread tails on the needle side of a chain stitch quilted material having a needle side and a looper side, the method comprising: with a needle at a starting point on the material and in a retracted position spaced from the needle side of the material and a needle thread tail extending from each needle entirely on the needle side of the material, initiating a thread tail wipe cycle by operating a programmed controller to reciprocate the needle through a stitch cycle and back to the retracted position to poke the needle thread through the material to the looper side of the material at the starting point on the material; then further operating the controller to advance a looper through a loop in the needle thread so that the needle thread extends from the needle and around the looper on the looper side of the material, then through the material with the needle thread tail remaining on the needle side of the material; then with the tension applied to the needle thread, further operating the controller to impart relative movement between the needle and the material, in a path from and back toward the starting point, in a direction parallel to the material a distance sufficient to pull the needle thread until the needle thread tail is pulled to the looper side of the material; then with the thread tail on the looper side of the material, operating the controller to drive the stitching element pair to sew a chain stitch sequence in the material.