I have a longarm and use the T-pins. I have ticking leaders and pin top and bottom of the backing. I start in the middle and work my way out lining it up with the ticking stripes (I made sure they were straight to start). I float the batting and top and have never had any problems. I don't come in contact with the t-pins as they are wrapped around one or the other of the rollers almost all of the time - my needle never gets close to them as my backing is larger than the top. It takes me no time at all to load the quilt and unloading it is even faster! Hope that makes sense and helps!! Good luck! Happy Quilting!!