Fitting It Together

The top is stitched together but it doesn't lie perfectly flat.  There aren't any huge "waffles" around the edges, just slight ripples in 2 or 3 places.  Should I be concerned?  They look nothing like the "pucker" in this vintage quilt - see 3rd photo down.  Which makes me think that if that pucker can be quilted in, these ripples could be quilted in.

I struggled with measurements (see photos of notes below) in an effort to be accurate.  The outer edges of the center had to meet the measurements of the churn dash blocks.  It was a challenge.  In the end it seemed easiest to use finished measurements throughout then add 1/2" before cutting.

I decided I couldn't live with wide borders on two sides and narrow borders on the other two.  To even out the inner red border I added spacers.  Is that what they're called?  You can see one to the right of the blue and red churn dash block, above.  When the quilt was still in pieces on the floor, I put them in and asked my husband what he thought.  "Great," he said.  "About the extra little strips?" I said.  "What little strips?" he asked.  They weren't obvious to him and I hope they don't stand out in the finished quilt.

I don't know whether to add an outer border or not.  Churn dash blocks are not very forgiving.  There's 1/4" for stitching and that's it.  If I need to square up the quilt after quilting and before binding, I won't have wiggle room if there's no border.  On the other hand, I like the idea of a binding looking like a narrow border.  Anyone have any experience with squaring churn dash blocks after quilting?

These are my working notes (above).  (Click to enlarge.  Click again to see even larger.)

As I was getting ready to cut out the extra fabric behind the flowers and leaves I thought how pleasing the applique stitching looked with its gentle (albeit not exactly even) rhythm.  I cut away the fabric inside the stitching so I would have one less layer to stitch through.

About the backing.  In the top photo along the upper edge you can see backing possibilities.  My husband votes for the red.  When I told him I didn't have enough red for the whole back, he sounded disappointed.  I suggested using the red and grey/brown, 2nd from the left.  He had a ho-hum response.  I have several pieces of dark green plaid that I could piece together for part of the back but I was hoping to take a really simple route.  What do you think?

I hope you're making good progress with whatever you're working on.

--Nancy.
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