I had the same problems, Marge. I finally learned to stabilize my quilt with pins which I hated. I also tried basting, which I hated. I used my regular machine with a short throat. That's the space from needle to machine body. I finally used the ping pong table to hold all that fabric. Finally decided that I had to have a quilting frame and machine. I'm also on a fixed income and started out with Flynn's frame. Too cunbersome. I finally got a frame made by Grace and I'm in seventh heaven. And it didn't break my bank. The pleasure I get from quilting now more than pays for it. If you do a lot of quilting, consider it.