I didnt read the whole thread but I made a set of circles that became a wallhanging quilt. Use a bias binding and then I put the sleeve on with a blind hem stitch. I adjust the stitch so it just barely caught the front of the quilt and used a color in the bobbin that would blend as much as possible.
I did both the binding and the sleeve by machine.
I used one of those "magic" quilt hangers. The slight "bow" in the quilt went toward the back so the edges actually lay flat. It looks very nice. Nice enough to display in my clinic. I would put up a pic but I gave it to my mom after a few years.