I used basting spray to layer my quilt and then pinned it to the aprons on my little short arm quilting machine, rolled it on, put on the tension straps and started quilting. Works great and easier for me to load by myself!! Yeah!!

I never thought of doing that, would be faster, wouldn't it?

Great idea :D:D:D

If your frame has at least 3 rollers, you don't need to baste a quilt and many people "float" their tops so they only use 2 rollers. Pinning the backing on square to the takeup & payout rollers, stitching the batting to the backing, attaching your side tensioning straps or whatever method you use then getting the top securely tacked and square is all that is needed.

For computer quided designs; some people will baste a quilt that is all ready loaded on the frame with water soluble thread to pre-draw it in so that points will match up on their design.

How is it easier to load by using spray baste? The only time I've used spray baste on a quilt that was loaded on the frame was to help control borders and keep them from going wonky. Now I just run a line of stitching down the sides before quilting each pass.

Having my quilt sandwich as one unit to work with seemed a good option to me. I am very new at quilt machine quilting and don't know what "float" a quilt means. I would love to know.
Thank you for responding.

In my "neck of the woods" "floating" a quilt means to pin the backing to the canvas rollers, layer the batting on and stitch it down at the top edge of the backing, then lay the quilt top on the batting, stitching or pinning it at the top - then letting the quilt top "float" as you are quilting, allowing you to straighten, tug, push or pull to line the top up as you quilt and roll.

That's what it means on this side of Missouri, too.

Personally, I don't like to spray baste the top to the batting when I'm quilting on my quilting machine. I find that the basting spray does not let the top shift as I quilt and roll and I end up with puckers quilted in. Also I don't like to "float" a top. I prefer to baste the quilt top to the batting and backing and then pin the quilt bottom to the bottom roller. I never have a pucker if I baste the sides as I quilt and roll, and when I reach about 10 inches from the bottom I unpin the top and baste it to the batting/backing. Just my way of doing it. And it works for me. Might not be for everyone.

Ahh, great minds think alike (grin)