Sherry's Leaf Row Quilt Revisited

Do you remember this stunning quilt that I completed for Sherry back in December?  (You can check out all the photos of it here.)  Well it came back for another visit in my studio.....

Sherry was not happy with the proportions of the quilt once she laid it on a bed, and wanted to add some width to the quilt.  Hmm, make a quilt bigger, once it has been quilted and trimmed?  How would that be accomplished?  The first idea (that would have been super easy for me and a bit more challenging for Sherry to make inconspicuous) was for me to quilt up two border panels and have Sherry join them using one of the "quilt in sections joining methods."  Because the rest of the quilt wasn't constructed that way, it may have seemed a bit out of place.

This is the method we chose after Sherry made some test samples.  The backing fabric was cut about 3" wider than the the final quilt measurement, the batting about 1 1/2" wider, and the top layer to the exact finished width.  Sherry basted the backing fabric on first (Right sides together), then put the top layer in place and sewed through all the layers.  The batting was then butted up to the edge and zig-zagged in place.  Sherry was very careful to measure carefully every step of the way, and pressed everything carefully once it was assembled.  

I was then able to load the quilt lengthwise on my frame, and the quilt it just as I would have originally.  We decided that a bead board look would frame the original panto nicely.  I did stitch a line 1/2" away from the joining seam to keep a nice clean line on the back and not have all the beard board lines starting and ending right at the join.