Hope I understand you well enough: Why not sew a temporary piece all around it so that it is big enough to fit on the frame and then remove it after the quilting is done?

Quilt it yourself on your domestic machine. I do all the time with quilts up to 120x120. A 32x32 quilt is very doable on even a small throat opening.

O.K., I'm not a longarm quilter so am going to ask a silly question. Just how many extra inches should a person have if doing it this method? Why the extra? I know when I handquilt to have extra but when looking at these replies it seems that it is desirable for 3 or more inches. Just being curious....

This should work fine, but go ahead and add some extra all the way around and cut it off before binding. I've done queensize on my longarm with that small a backing extra.

I have done that for several of my quilts, sometimes just because I don't want to waste $10 a yard fabric just to be cut off, but sometime, I just run short. I've basted muslin onto the edges and my Longarm armer has not had a problem with it. They can center it enough to keep the backing and top lined up correctly.

I wouldn't think on a quilt that small that 2.5" would be a problem. It would if it were on a king sized quilt! Try quilting it yourself! You can do it!!!

Hi,
Just baste a piece of muslin to the sides.
Sandy

If you are entertaining the long arm quilter route, do not baste the quilt together. It will just have to be taken apart and probably the LA'er will charge you for doing so. The top, and back have to be put on separate rollers and the batting floated between the top and back layers. You might sew a piece of muslin to the sides and that would give them something to attatch the top and bottom leaders. The sides need that extra to clear the clamps. Depending on how you want it quilted and the batting thickness, you will need to have at least a 4" strip on each side. If you are doing custom and the LA'er will be using a table and ruler, you will need 6" on each side.
I know most quilters do not understand the why's of having that extra yardage on the back, I would suggest go to a long arm shop and ask to watch them load a quilt and it will become quickly apparent as to why that extra yardage is needed. Hope this sheds some light on the subject.

Ditto that! That small of a quilt would be a breeze to fmq on a domestic machine.....even if all you did was SITD. 2" on each side is plenty if you are doing it yourself.

Could you possibly take strips of a fabric from the front to add to each edge of the back to make bigger backing? Batting you can always get more of.