Personal preference RULES... No need to follow the trend! (If there is a trend...) If you work from patterns you are never bound to follow them exactly-- make it your way! I have gotten away from adding borders because I am just frankly sick of them. If they don't add anything to the quilt besides some extra size, I wouldn't use them. I also am sick of sashing.
Sometimes I wonder why people sash, when it obviously keeps their blocks from interacting and playing off each other. Sometimes it's just a shame that it was done, when the quilt would have had so much more movement and depth without it.
To each, their own... Just trust your gut feelings about each quilt you make and you can't go wrong.