I run stitching at the top and then along the sides as I roll the quilt (and along the bottom when I get to it). I almost never baste across the top with the exception of when I know I will be rolling it back and forth often (to prevent tucks). I have a friend that bastes tops for a number of handquilters.

Thanks everyone for your input. It's been helpful.

I also have the magnetic bars and love them. I got them at Harbor Freight. They are the right design. The Home Depot and Lowes have a lip on them that you don't want because it won't lay flat.

What I really wanted to say is; depending on the quilt, I often baste the entire quilt before I start quilting because I will want to roll (on a Longarm) my quilt back and forth several times to quilt different areas (using the same thread or same motif) before I make changes. If the quilt is not entirely basted you cannot roll the quilt backward more than the width of your quilting area that is not basted. (I hope that makes sense).

Tip: When basting the entire quilt, you must continue to check the back to make sure you do not get pleats in the backing (depending on your batting). Ellen

I agree with prism. Then you have to remove all those basting stitches after you have finished the quilting. I would not like doing it on batiks; it tends to leave 'holes' I think. Just mho.

Just one quick response to your comment sewnclog. When you baste you use big stitches and they are very easy to remove. I usually make the 3-4-5 inches apart. Easy to remove, just cut the ends and pull the top thread out and then the bottom thread. Again I am referring to the Longarm but you can also do this on a domestic machine. That is the beauty of the basting, the stitches do not have to be small to hold the sandwich in place.

I just finished a small quilt with a cross design. I did a lot of basting to keep the design straight.

It is important to keep checking the back. I didn't have tucks, but it was looser than I wanted.

Additionally I used wool batt. I don't use wool often so Im wondering is the loosness was due to the wool batt?

Congrats on your New Nolting. My 24" Pro is going on 13 yrs and is a true workhorse. You will love it. I baste the top and sides as I quilt the top. I add a sacrifice border of muslin on the bottom of the top so everything is nice and tight, no ripples when you get to the end.
If I am doing a custom quilt that requires alot of rolling back and forth, then I will baste the entire quilt so your back will stay nice and smooth. My basting for this is real close,like 4-5 inches ..too far it will cause wrinkles on the back. Alos check your backing and batting when you advance the quilt. Give the batting a tug to smooth it in place, they get wrinkles and you can't see them til it is too late.
I never float my tops however this is a personal preference of the longaramer. You will find out what works best for you .

while the wool bat may have made for a little more poofiness, it won't cause looseness of the backing.sometimes when I'm rolling back and forth often and the backing is something that isn't very tightly woven, it seems to maybe stretch the backing some--I've found this especially true on cotton sateen widebacks.

I have found this really helpful when doing a dense custom quilting job. For a basic pantograph it's not necessary, but if the quillting is really dense, or you are doing sections and then returning to the rest of that row later, it really helps keep everything aligned and straight.

I am very new to longarm quilting. I have a midarm 15" Bailey. I am having a hard time getting my basting stitch 1/4 inch from the top of the quilt without it getting under the foot. Any hints or tricks. I've watch every video I can find and they all say to walk your hand along behind your stitching. Am I making this harder than it has to be or does it just take practice?