I have two ironing boards, one to iron, and one that I put at table level on my left side while quilting. It really comes in handy to help hold the weight of the quilt. My machine and table are level (flat bed to sew on) so I slide the board down to fit just under my table.
I to am a scruncher, fluffler, smoosher LOl I bought the bicycle clips and tried rolling, but it just reatrained my movement too much.
You will be fine, i have a Janome 1600 P-QC and it has a 9 inch throat, plenty of room for almost anything.