Don't give up on Craigslist... I have been searching Craigslist for 3 YEARS and finally found my dream Koala sewing table! We just picked it up last weekend and it is amazing
Need to order the acrylic insert so I don't know yet how it will be to quilt on it.
RE: the tension problems, is all of your quilt supported while you are quilting it? Maybe you need another small table to the left of your machine to take some of the weight? Also, you can buy a "sew steady" table for your machine that has about a 2 sq ft area of raised height around the needle.