Here's a suggestion. Instead of making at pattern of a braid, could you make an actual 3D braid and add it to the quilt after it is quilted? It would become the binding and final border all in one. Instead of being made of pieces cut into a pattern, it would be fabric braided, stitched to hold it's shape and then stitched to the edge of the quilt much in the way the Sharon Shambler (have I misspelled her last name) adds some of her borders on her award winning quilts.