Longarm quilting questions
 

I am ready to start my first quilt using a Minky backing, any tips or tricks?

1: Selvedges on the side to eliminate stretch.
2: Pinned to leaders with no stretching.
3: Batting to help alleviate fuzzies popping to the top.
4: Don’t overdue when advancing, keep things looser than a normal top.
5: Keep vacuum handy when trimming and use painters tape to help with fuzzies.
6: New needle
7: Loose and larger design for Panto.

Any other tips or tricks?

Also, I float my tops and have been happy with the results. But I am curious about those that baste their entire top before they start quilting. I would love to know more about that process and thoughts behind it.

The only other issue I have is to make certain the batting is not bunching up anywhere, or your quilt will be lumpy.

I've done a few minky backings and I did as you have outlined. They turned out well.

I do not fully float my quilts, I think I have better control not floating. What I do is pin the backing to the belly bar leader and the take-up bar leader in the back. Then I pin the bottom of the quilt top to the upper belly bar leader and roll it up Then I sandwich my batting between the backing and the top and pull it up to about an inch from the pins and leader. Then I use my horizontal channel lock to stitch a straight line across the batting and backing to baste those two together. Next step, I pull the top of the top up to the line created by the basting and pin the top next to that line. I then baste the top to the backing and the batting. Then I tighten the sandwich between the two bars but not too much. I really just want it smooth and don't want to stretch any of the layers. When I quilt, it looks a bit like a little mole moving under fresh fallen snow. Some people will also baste the sides of the top to the backing and batting at this point. I just pin it but I do place the pins head to toe so it stays straight.
I have never basted the entire top but I would do any stitch in the ditch to stabilize everything before doing any free motion fills or motifs in the open spaces.