It's not uncommon to allow for a pillow fold when designing a quilt. One of my first custom quilting projects was designed this way. Perhaps the oddest looking asymmetrical quilts are the old ones that just have borders on one side and the top and the bottom. They were made to go on beds that were pushed against the wall on one side. It didn't make sense to put the extra time and expense into a border that would never be seen. Easier to make the bed, too.

Annie

Carole, I've often wondered about this myself. I guess if I planned to show this quilt or hang it, I might treat it different than If I planned to use it on a bed. I like your quilt, looks like it was made for me ( J.) and yes I think it could be used beadspread style.

Kate, Nice quilt, I just love the colors.

Janice

I have been fond of the side border approach, especially for the pictorial designs, which lend themselves to asymmetrical placement. Actually, I prefer asymmetrical design, providing the balance with other elements. In one quilt, I went with symmetry in the placement of the key figures, but created asymmetry in the quilting design.

If you remember the Blue Bear quilt, the abstract design featured the side borders and the bear's head on top to be centered on the pillow?

Not coming from a quilting background, I grew up around blankets and bedspreads that always folded over the pillows--no coverlets with pillows in shams. Carole

Carole, I like the design.You always have interesting quilts.

Kate, I like yours too. Nice colors. A couple of the first quilts I made had just a long narrow pieced area with long borders on each side to make it wide enough. I didn't want to do much of the pattern, just enough to see what it looked like.
~Geraldine

I grew up with bedspreads that folded and covered the pillows, too, but all my bed quilts have been symmetrical and often actually square. I sure like both of your quilts!

I've only made one quilt where I allowed for pillow fold. I am, however a big fan of using coordinating fabric to make pillowcases to set on top of the flat quilt, laying tidy on the bed.

I should get a better picture of this one, where the stripes are actually over the pillows, on the bed.

Kate: I love the blues and that design would certainly work well folding over.

Jenbone: That's the Dahlia isn't it? Nice quilting too. It occurs to me that if you have shams, they cover the top of the quilt design more than folding, but folding can create an odd break in the design. That design leaves enough solid space to use the quilt either way.

I use pillows in the modern fashion now, but I have a commercially quilted solid, navy blue colored spread because the design focus of the room is a large oriental rug. The brilliant colors and strong design are just too much to set against a quilt, except maybe a white on white style. Carole

Mine is Dahlia. A quilt shop owner in Ohio loaned me her templates to make it. She was very nice. The reason mine is centered, with enough pillow space is because that particular pattern is appliquéd onto a bed sheet. I didn't do the machine quilting myself. ~jen~