I drop down to 1.8 for piecing and 1.5 for paper piecing. I do some basting at around 2.5-3 when I am paper piecing and have to match a lot of points, when the meet up good I usually leave the basting stitches in and go back at 1.5. Hard to remove, you bet, but the stitches don't show and I feel confident they will hold.