For hand quilts I hand baste, for machine quilts I use either Fusiboo (fusible batting) or pins. You mentioned my absolute least favorite part of the quilting process
I don't like that spray stuff.
To the person who wanted to know how not to run into your pins, I just slow it down as I near one and then take it out.
I bought a big bag of ear plugs on Ebay for 3.98 and they work great with straight pins.