I hand quilt all the time in my lap. I first put my quilt in my big frame, and baste it about every 2 1/2 inches across the quilt. I do quilt in a hoop, I quilt everything, from pillows to king size quilts in my lap, I have never had a pucker on the back. My large frame, is the old time frame that sits on sawhorse type legs, I pin the quilt to the frame, and baste and roll, I usually quilt the border, while it is in the frame, then baste the rest of the quilt. When I take my quilt out of the large frame, God forbid, I square up my quilt and put the binding on it and finish the binding. (That way, I don't have the batting to mess with while I am quilting the rest of the quilt). When I start quilting the quilt in my lap, I do then start in the middle. It works for me, I guess it is where I baste the quilt, every 2 1/2 inches to 3 inches at the most, it is not going anywhere. Hope this helps. I have a quilt going most of the time.