I'm a "puddler" too. This is the largest quilt I made on my little Singer 15-91 - it's 120" square and quilting the middle was a bear. It takes constant shifting and rearranging to get a "clear" square foot of quilting space around the needle. There are only 7" between the needle and the pillar and sometimes my right hand was under a big wad of quilt, trying to keep the quilting area clear *and* move it around under the needle.
I learned about "puddling" on this board, if I recall and I don't even try the clips any more.