Cheating At Checkers

Here's my latest crazy idea for a border...I call it "Cheating at Checkers".

The Black T-Shirt Quilt needed to be a bit wider, but not much longer, so I wanted a design that would add to the sides, yet be narrower at the top & bottom.
I decided on a Checkerboard using 2" units, equalling 6" on each side of the quilt, but only 2" on each end. The squares would coordinate all the way around that way.

The traditional way to make a Checkerboard is to make 9-patch blocks, some with the X format (darks in the center & corners) and some in the O format (dark in the center of each side), and alternate them.

But I just couldn't leave well enough alone!

I thought I'd make an irregular checkerboard, so the squares would be randomly floating!
(no, I do not know where these ideas come from...or, even worse, why I go ahead and make them! But I do!).

Being simple-minded at math, I just divided the block into it's basic lengths: 2", 4" and 6".
Then I cut strips those widths from the "background" fabric (red) and cut 2" strips of black for the squares:

Each width got a strip of black sewn along the length, then I sliced them all up into 2" sections.

It does not matter that they are different lengths. The way I made the border was to randomly sew these sections together to make one long strip the same length as a side (80" long).

Then I sewed another strip the same length, and started sewing it onto the first strip.
Whenever I got 2 black squares together, I ripped a section out, sewed the ends back together, and kept going.
I had to add a bit at the end of the second long strip, since I had removed sections in several places.

The whole point here is to be random...the only thing I cared about was not having 2 black squares together (side by side).
To complete the "9-Patch" look, I sewed another long strip, and added it to the first 2...again, ripping it out if there were 2 black squares together.

This is how it comes out:

There were even a few actual 9-patches that showed up, by they weren't planned and I just left them in!
I especially like the places where one lone square is floating.
You'll get a better look at the whole thing after I've quilted it...I was a bit nervous about stretching the borders while getting a photo.

But I couldn't wait to share "Cheating At Checkers" with you!