Hello, Lisa. I, too, have a small space to work in, but here is how I get a quilt sandwiched for quilting. Use your ironing board and either a hollow core door or a piece of masonite or a piece of plywood about 60 inches long and 48 inches wide covered with an old mattress cover or a piece of vinyl tablecloth. place the board on your ironing board. Lay your backing right side down and smooth it out. Tape it down or use clamps. Then lay your wadding on top of that and smooth it out. Finally, put the top on the board, right side up. Clamp all together , making sure there are no wrinkles anywhere. Baste the quilt that is on the board. Loosen the clamps and move toward you. Smooth all layers out and clamp again. Baste. Loosen your clamps and walk around your quilt sandwich to the other side. Clamp that side and baste. When you finish those two sides, repeat performance with the sides which need to basted. You should then have no trouble quilting your quilt. Hope this works for you.