Who said there are rules? Only rules are when you enter a quilt to show!!! other then that...any thing goes...That's the great thing about quilting...you can do what ever you want..make it how ever you want...bend the rules ...one thing I do is spray baste... In my huge barn we have a giant table that cabinets were built on...I can lay a Queen flat sheet on it and it hangs over..clamp down...open doors and windows...and spray my quilts..i have never had a problem..and when done..I wash...every teacher has there way they like to quilt...i have even seen some that say you have to use a special thread...lol...I dont think so...in our guild we have national speakers every month...everyone has a special way they quilt.., build, thread they use, rulers they tell us we have to have!!! templets we have to have!! now i will tell you I do have lots of rullers...i love rullers...and really dont know how to use them all..someday i will learn...lol