Project: Bump on the Logs, part 3b

Yesterday, I double-checked my virtual quilt representation in Electric Quilt (EQ) and found nothing wrong.  It must have been my imagination that things seemed wrong!  But I did make some changes because I did my borders differently than I thought I would.  I thought I had cut 2" strips of beige for borders when I cut my 1.5" logs, but I couldn't find them anywhere so thought I'd have to do my best with the 8 inches left of that yardage.  On Saturday, I spied the missing strips underneath my chair.  It's an office chair with those five rolling legs and it's pushed against a dark wood bookcase when I'm not sitting in it, so it's easy to miss something small directly under the legs.  I suppose I have Trudy (chihuahua) to thank for the strips being on the floor.

So I went back to my original plan for borders, more or less.  Here's what I did:

Border 1 (could also be called the top sashing): cut 2 strips 2.5" x WOF of dark fabric, sew to top and bottom of quilt top.  This makes the top square.

Border 2: cut three strips 2" x WOF and one strip 3" x WOF of light fabric.  Sew two of the narrow strips to the sides.  Sew one narrow strip to the top.  Sew the wide strip to the bottom.

Border 3: cut one 3" x WOF of focal fabric, one 2" x WOF of  light fabric, one 1.5" x WOF of dark fabric, and one 2.5" x WOF of light fabric.  Sew these strips together, then sew the completed border unit to the top edge.

Note: I chose not to add more borders to the bottom edge because I'm running out of yardage.  But if you have yardage to spare, you can add to the bottom edge the same borders as the top edge to make your quilt a few inches longer.

My top now measures 37" x 45.5" (minus seam allowance).  It's now time to give the top a good pressing, trim off threads and neaten things up a bit, then find batting and backing fabric to sandwich it altogether.  I found a fleece throw on sale the other day that has the perfect colors for my top, but I haven't decided yet whether to use it or a cotton fabric that doesn't match so well.  Whichever I choose, I have just enough of the dark fabric left to make double-fold binding.  My finished quilt should look like this:

I've tried the "quick" pillowcase or birthing method of finishing a quilt and don't like it much.  Seems to take me longer to turn it and get those edges to lay correctly and then quilt (or tie) it than it does to quilt it and sew on a binding.