I guess we've all had the same mishaps at one time or another! And we keep repeating them!
But as for your table, I have the same problem. If your table is not too heavy though, you may be able to boost it up. I can't do it with my dining room table, but I have two folding tables that I sometimes put side by side for pin basting. One table lis shorter than the other, so my DH cut a couple of wood blocks to set the table legs on. He even cut a little recessed area so the table leg wouldn't slide off the block.
At alocal quilt shop, when they need an extra cutting table, they set up a folding table, and stick the legs into short lengths of PVC tubing. Because the table legs have an L-shape, the horizontal part rests on the edge of the PVC. So you don't need anything else besides the PVC cut to the right length.