I spray baste, but rather than hanging the quilt, I mark centers of all sides of all pieces (top, batting and backing) and align them over a banquet table. pin along the edge, then fold back the layers to spray baste.( I find it works best to spray the batting rather than the cotton top or backing. )Then smooth out each layer back into the quilt sandwich. Once the portion supported by the table is completely basted, I move it the quilt one direction or the other to repeat the spraying/smoothing process until the entire quilt is basted. I like to add a few basting pins along the outer border, which helps keep the backing from folding back and getting caught up in the stitches... I hate it when that happens.

Elmers gal here!! No need for wasted extra fabric for backing as there is very little shifting. Once glued, no movement. Use a light hand, if you have any blobs, smooth them out as you go. I usually iron dry and then hang over my balcony to really dry, 24 hrs. Make sure you use Elmers Washable School Glue. Great buys when school starts but you can buy it by the gallon from several sources. I like Amazon. A gallon lasts a LONG time!!

I always use warm and natural batting and it works very well with spray basting...especially for small projects. When I am doing a quilt, lap size or larger I use safety pins... a lot of them....then I machine baste starting at the center and going out to edge...another words split the quilt into quarters...this helps to hold and you can remove some of the pins but you just remove pins as you FMQ....for small things like placemats....a little starch between warm and natural and your fabric works fine.

Do you have to wash quilt after using elmers glue ?

I always wash my quilts when done anyway - regardless of how I baste. Some folks don't if it is a wall hanging. I think it is a good idea to wash out the glue

I glue baste with washable school glue and wash my quilt after.

There was a posting here a few weeks ago about someone who pin basted and FMQ and used the pins as points to meander around with her quilting so she didn't have to remove the pins until the end. You can definitely pin baste and FMQ.

Regarding learning FMQ, may I make a suggestion. Instead of practicing on scraps, I now use placemat size sandwiches. Then I end up with placemats and nothing is thrown away! If you make too many, then Meals on Wheels may enjoy them.

I have always used pins but am going to try the spray basting. Just try it and have fun with a practice piece first.

I just discovered Sharon's method and love it, but I use the spray basting instead of stitching..works great...keeps my old knees off the floor..lol

Congratulations on your PC420, I have one and I love it. I have FMQ'd a lot on it and really enjoyed it. I just upgraded to a used PQ1500s for the larger throat space so that has become my main FMQ machine, but I still use my PC420 everyday for the decorative stitches. On to your question:

I pin baste. If I'm only using one color thread in my quilt when I'm FMQing, then I FMQ stitch in the ditch just around the part I'm getting ready to FMQ, remove pins and FMQ--it goes really quickly this way and I don't have any problems with tucks, layers shifting or pins getting in the way of my FMQ.

If I'm planning on using lots of different colors of thread in my FMQ then I pin bast and using a thread that blends or invisible top thread I Stitch in the Ditch as much of the quilt as I can get through my machine using a regular open toe satin or decorative stitch foot with my feed dogs up. Remove quilt, remove all pins from areas that were STID'd and FMQ. This way takes a lot longer since I'm also breaking a lot of thread to accommodate color changes, but it allows me to FMQ some really large areas without running into pins.

For learning FMQ, try starting with two pieces of felt for your sandwiches, you can buy large packages of felt from craft stores and just grab a couple of pieces and go. Then move to quilt sandwiches that you might want to use for other things like place mats before moving to a full sized quilt.

Rob