sewingpup

I do not fully float my quilts, I think I have better control not floating. What I do is pin the backing to the belly bar leader and the take-up bar leader in the back. Then I pin the bottom of the quilt top to the upper belly bar leader and roll it up Then I sandwich my batting between the backing and the top and pull it up to about an inch from the pins and leader. Then I use my horizontal channel lock to stitch a straight line across the batting and backing to baste those two together. Next step, I pull the top of the top up to the line created by the basting and pin the top next to that line. I then baste the top to the backing and the batting. Then I tighten the sandwich between the two bars but not too much. I really just want it smooth and don't want to stretch any of the layers. When I quilt, it looks a bit like a little mole moving under fresh fallen snow. Some people will also baste the sides of the top to the backing and batting at this point. I just pin it but I do place the pins head to toe so it stays straight.
I have never basted the entire top but I would do any stitch in the ditch to stabilize everything before doing any free motion fills or motifs in the open spaces.