Support is everything when dealing with a large quilt. I throw mine over my shoulder, use a chair or an ironing board to support the weight of the quilt and only quilt a small portion at a time. For me, small is about a 12" square. Meandering is harder for me than quilting a design. With meandering you are constantly moving your quilt in all directions. If I use some type design....think wispy flower, curls, large feathers, I am not moving all the quilt so much. There are so many great long arm quilters on this board, that any picture they put up is very inspiring to me. I have learned a lot from them. I may not be the best one to help you, because I have never quilted one without some little puckering somewhere and sometimes, just downright pleats. I am going to try the washable glue method next time.