Don't forget to have a table to your immediate left. Enter your sewing space from behind or to the right.

I am fortunate to have a 90" dinning table and an 8 foot banquet table AND a room large enough for both. I can put the tables end to end and then if the quilt is really large there is room for another banquet table behind so the quilt is supported in all directons. Oh, yes, I also have a long arm in the same room. I still live alone and am house sitting until future hubby and I can get all our stuff done in order to marry.

Exactly my thought!! I nearly had a heart attack in 2007 when my queen-sized Cottage Garden quilt came back from the LAQ here in Virginia and found she'd used W and N cotton batting, which I found to be the heaviest quilt I'd ever owned. I was aware of WN, but had never used it because, until then, my batting experiences were in Texas where most of us used Hobbs cotton batting made in Waco TX. Now I use Quilters Dream cotton or wool and my shoulders don't complain every time I have to fold the quilts.

Jan in VA

Also try Quilter's Dream DREAM ORIENT. It's my personal favorite. Soft, cuddly and very drapable.

Last summer when my then 86 year old mother was doing the machine sewing part of the binding for a large charity quilt, her friend and I helped with it while she sewed. It did take awhile with one stop for a cookie break, but it certainly did help her to have the extra hands. She has a large table in the sewing room, and we arranged everything to suit her.

Dayle

Just a comment about batting weight; I made a flannel quilt for my nephew. It's either a queen or double, depending on your definition, and is 3 layers of flannel - top, backing, and I also used flannel for batting. That sucker is HEAVY! I was surprised to see that he uses a sheet and that quilt and that's all - until I slept under it while visiting. Holy cow.

I use two plastic storage bins in my sewing room for storage. I pull these over and use them as table extenders. You are right...quits can be quite heavy. Which is why our formothers pieced in the summer and quilted in the winter.

if you mean "right" rather than left, I'm confused (and that's easily done!)

I make double to queen and sometimes larger quilts. I put them on my glass topped dining table and sew the binding on like that. Yes, quilts can get heavy, I notice that several times through the quilting process.

Oh yes these quilts do get heavy dont they! Try folding the quilit into quarters and then work your way around it. The quilt will eventuall unfold but seems to be a little more managable. Sometimes when I do my binding I dump the quilt to the left of my machine. Find the edge, and just sew about 12 inches at a time, and then reshift the quilt. It is a job tho. When I do the hand sewing, I clear of my table and put the quit there. No HEAT or weight doing this last sewing step. And remember...when you are doing the binding...that sucker is almost DONE!!!