You came up with a great solution, but I can understand your frustration. I was once making a quilt for my husband and decided a pieced border would be great, however, because the block had many, many bias pieces, one side came out longer than the other. I spent 2 days ripping out the border, then put it away for a while and wound up using a solid black for the border, it worked. It only took about 4 years before I finished it, but I did finish it although I doubt that I will let DH pick the block if I decide to make him another quilt. I should add that it was a king size quilt, approximately 110 x 110.