I did my version of 'big stitch' on a baby quilt recently. Used a larger needle (sorry don't know size) and #12 pearle cotton thread. It came out quite well but I'm not sure that my 'big stitches' were particularly big, lol. But, hey, it worked; the quilt was completed and (finally) gifted.
Even though my stitches were probably smaller than what most consider 'big' stitching, using the pearle cotton certainly did give the quilting more visibility and definition. I may or may not try it again...depends on the quilt and the visual I'm going for.