I also have an old Nolting and love it too. I baste the top and sides. I don't do any basting through out the quilt.
When I get to the end of the quilt I baste the bottom edge. For me I feel it stops the quilt from moving around.
I also float small and twin sizes. Sometimes extra care for very special quilts and some times just get it done so not alot of prep. Each quilt gets what it needs.
Enjoy your Machine. You can find LA/ Nolting Forums if you goggle and there are a lot of great tutorials and techniques out there to try.
peace