Hello Kryssa,
I understand how you feel! The thought of stuffing all that quilt into that small area then trying to move it around while quilting...
My advice won't help with this quilt, but it could save you this pain in future quilts. I have a home machine, and I do as fancy quilting as I want: outline quilting, repeating stencils, etc. Doing your quilting on one block or one "unit" of 4 blocks together is easy.
Then to put the whole quilt together I use a method described by Georgia Bonesteel in her book "More Lap Quilting". You sew the top together and then hand stitch the back. This book has been around a long time and is easy to find.
Several years ago I made a quilt with this method as a gift for a friend who is a washing-machine-fiend. It has held up to her ownership just fine.
I am currently working on a log cabin with huge 14" blocks. I sewed 4 of the blocks into "units" and am quilting them with a decorative stitch on my machine. They are really pretty. I am on the last one, and then will start to put the whole quilt together already quilted.
I hope this gives you ideas for your NEXT quilt!
Sincerely,
Levada Pendry