You don't need to take the top apart or split the backing to do a QAYG. Before i got my long arm, I would put the top & backing together, but cut the batting in thirds. Sandwich the first piece of batting in the center, roll the excess top & backing up to keep it out of the way. Quilt to within an inch or so of the edges of that piece of batting. Join another piece of batting on by whip stitching or using one of the fusible products made for this purpose. Quilt this section, then repeat for the other side. Rolling just the top & backing up makes a much less bulky object to get under your machine arm. As you add the other pieces of batting, you will only have 1/3 of the quilt under your machine arm at a time.