I always baste with water-soluble thread. So I FMQ over it and just wet the quilt afterward to get rid of the basting. Actually I wash and (almost) dry the quilt!

Is this thread expensive? could you just dampen the areas where the treads have been caught in FMQ I always sell my quilts unwashed - If I am combining fabrics ike flannel on the back I do prewash before I piece though.

I quilt over hand basting. It's not that hard to take out. Only occasionnal will the maching actually hit the basting thread.

I FMQ over hand basting......never had a problem with removing the basting thread. This has worked for me on smaller projects......lap quilts, wallhangings etc.

There is a lady on you tube sue sch? She show u how to hand baste with boards and thread that you remove as u fmq but doesn't mess up the rest of the quilt. Will be trying it out soon!!

Ditto water soluble.

Basting is not recommended with FMQ because the foot gets caught in the basting stitches as you quilt. So you would need to remove the stitches as you go. You could try water soluable, but I think you'd have problems with the foot catching.

Me too....usually pulls right out

I thread baste with water soluble thread and it works great. When the quilt is finished and bound I wash it and no more basting thread.

I thread baste using Sharon Schamber's method - however I use water soluble thread so I don't have to pick them out.

I don't recommend FMQ'ing over regular thread. Most of time it will be easy to pick out, but sometimes your quilting stich will catch just one of the ply's and you'll have a hard time pulling the thread out - you could catch one of your quilting stitches and pull IT out by mistake.

A problem I DO have even with the water soluble thread is that my open toe foot will sometimes catch a basted thread. I try to hold the basting stitches flat when I'm quilting, but sometimes I just don't get my hands in the right position. It only becomes a problem when I don't see it (the thread in the right light is invisible) and as I'm trying to move my quilt it's snagged on a thread and won't move. Grrr.

Next time ... I'm going to baste the Sharon Schamber's way BUT I'm going to do my basting stitches from the back. That way the long herringbone stitches will be on the back of the quilt, and only the smaller horizontal stiches will be on the front - so less that I have to worry about.