Edie - you can "carry on" anytime - loved your story! :-D
And BellaBoo - that is a great idea! I don't need to measure with it anyway and that is MUCH more affordable!
I totally understand about how the sashing can take away from the overall pattern between the blocks. I think the separation looks cool for the I Spy quilt though - and the crumb squares I'm working on will definitely need sashing to give the eye a rest. But I have others in the plans that would not work as well with sashing.