I use a plastic folding table and I don't use any clamps or tape, I just let the weight of the quilt do the job to get started and smooth out from there.
I do the back first - batting down "face to the table", smooth it out, lay the backing out so it's lined up where it needs to be, peel it back halfway, spatter Elmer's glue, smooth it down, repeat for the other half. Then I either take a break or bust out the iron to get that glue mostly dry, then I start shifting the quilt around on the table and gluing down all the other parts, getting each part mostly dry before I move to the next. Then I repeat the process for the top of the quilt. Once it's all glued up I usually let it sit overnight or for most of a day to make sure it's completely dry before I quilt it. I have zero troubles sewing over dried glue.
I have no problems with puckering while quilting when I'm using this method; in fact I get LESS, I think I used to over-stretch the bottom when I was taping. Basically I've discovered that if it looks nice and smooth while glued, that's how it's going to come out after quilting. If I see rumples when it's just glued, I'm going to have problems and I need to get it wet and try again. Giving it time to dry and coming back to it helps me spot those problems that I can't see when I'm in the moment.
I feel like I'm totally cheating every time I sandwich a quilt now because it's SO much easier than all the crawling and taping and pinning!! My knees thank me.
