I was taught to sew a grid horizontally and vertically about 4" apart on my longarm with regular thread(water soluble thread would be a convenience for the quilter but pricey as stated). I would put on my horizontal lock then manually eyeball about 2"-3" spaces to take one stitch at a time all the way across. Repeat vertically and continue. I don't think this would be any problem as far as taking the basting stitches out later. I never saw a quilt after I did the basting but didn't hear any complaints from the hand quilters either.