re Tic TacToe

I haven't figured out how to add a comment so am sending it this way. Your Tic Tac Toe top is delightful. I like the dark backgrounds with white crosses sprinkled around in the quilt.
To help with some of your questions, I would suggest that you quilt it then bind it. If you plan to quilt in the sashing, you might like to try using a serpentine stitch if your machine has one. A quilter friend used it instead of a straight stitch and if you are trying to stitch along a seam ( in the ditch) it hides a multiple of "oops" I went off the line. It looks nice too. If you think that it needs more quilting after doing the sashing you might tie it in the blocks. That would certainly be secure enough to withstand lots of washing.
I took a machine quilting class recently and the instructor suggested pinning the quilt layers well, press the backing and top well. Then to layer them tape them down on the edges to hold them taut then pin approximately 4" apart in the centre of the quilt and closer around the outside edges. A walking foot on the machine will help to feed the top layer and prevent bunching up pleats where you stitch over lines. It probably won't be needed if you don't use batting. Some machines have the walking foot built in. Remove the pins after you have quilted to make the whole thing lighter to handle. A hint I learned to help support the quilt, move your ironing board next to you and the sewing table and adjust it to the height of your table. It gives you more surface area beside you to hold the quilt as you are quilting. Practice on a few small pieces to get the hang of it and take your time. Don't forget to breath - we tend to hold our breath as we are trying to machine quilt - the instructor was right about that, I learned that from experience too. Happy quilting!
Cory