I had the same problems with spray baste. It was just a mess. Then I used the Sharon Schamber method of rolling the quilt on to boards and then thread basting. That works really, really well but it's time consuming. So then I tried spray basting with the boards and it works even better than the thread basting. Next time I baste a quilt I'll use the boards and Elmer's glue. The real secret is winding the top and backing on the boards to keep them flat and smooth.