Prism99, that is great information about the position of the needle being in front of you. Thanks a lot!

this table will just have a 4x6 top with 4 legs. so i can sit anywhere under it. its a temp table until he can make me a sewing cabinet with storage one day in the future. i need to get these quilts done and i'm hating fmq b/c of the acrylic extension table, i get so uptight, soar and frustrated i refuse to finish another quilt on it. so this is a quickie solution. been looking online for cheap or free dining tables for months and there is just nothing when we look.
so we had extra pine boards laying around from house building he's using those. and i'll paint it all up when he's done.