I think your height shouldn't matter if you have the sewing machine and your chair at the right height. I FMQ several king sized quilts on a small Janome with a 5-6" harp space (I'm 5'7") . It was awful until I realized my chair was too low and my hands weren't parallel to the machine. When I fixed that it was much easier.
Gloves do help and you have to have something to support the quilt or you'll just be fighting the process the entire way.