I pin baste my quilts and I've never starched a completed top. I have used spray starch before cutting fabric for blocks with tiny pieces. Sometimes spray starch when doing final pressing of a block, still debating that. Easy to stretch out of shape.
I use a lot of pins and don't really mind the pinning. I think it helps me plan the quilting. I don't have trouble with puckering. I do FMQ on my domestic machine, so they get plenty of tugging and pulling
I do SID around the individual blocks to stabilize the quilt before starting the FMQ, per Leah Day's instructions on her Daystyledesigns.com website.