Mattee, I am so with you on your philosophy, I try but I am still learning and am trying to be a bit easier on myself. My pet peeve too was the not tight backing. I don't have a lot of space either, I recommend you to watch this video, I saw it posted on this board and it makes such good sense to achieve a nice tight sandwiched unit. It allows you to work with a manageble amount of your quilt at a time . here is the link.(
http://www.sharonschambernetwork.com...our-Quilt.aspx)
I hope this helps you too.
Rita