I think the method of machine basting would depend on how large the quilt is. I machine quilt on my longarm, so machine basting is usually not necessary. However sometimes I want to be able to roll the quilt back and forth as I quilt, so I use a basting stitch to stabilize the entire quilt before starting the actual quilting. I have already stitched across the top of the quilt while loading it on the frame, and then I stitch big wavy lines across the quilt, starting at the top and going all the way to the bottom. I always remove the basting stitches from an area before I do the actual quilting, because otherwise the quilting stitches are sure to go through some of the basting thread, making it hard to remove.