Before I had enough space at my home I went to a LQS or one of the churches and used their tables to layout and baste/pin/spray the layers. There was NO WAY I was going to do that on the floor. I live alone and I can just imagine someone trying to 'rescue' me when I couldn't get up by myself.
As for doing the FMQ: I have a sewing machine cabinet and then put an ironing board or small table behind the area to catch the quilt so there was no drag or distortion.
ali