I haven't hand basted a quilt in years. The last one I remember doing I used a running stitch, starting in the middle and making an X through the quilt. Then I filled in with more running stitches. They were close together and the stitch length was about an inch top and bottom. I machined right over the basting stitches and removed them later. It wasn't hard to remove them. I hated basting, I felt I could make another quilt top in the time it took me to baste. One time with pins and I knew I would never do that again. Awful things.
I haven't basted any other way then washable glue now. It suits me perfectly.