It depends, sometimes it's all planned out in advance. But then again sometimes it just falls into place as you go along.

I have done exactly the same thing. I have gotten the main part together and then looked at the material for the border and went "nope, not gonna work" so now I wait until I am ready for the border, then fold the top up (or take pieces of the material from the quilt) and head out for the nearest quilt shop or go on line to find exactly what makes the quilt perfect.

I usually wing it as I go. I rarely pick out all the fabrics for a quilt at one time. The few times I have picked out all my fabrics, I get to the boarders and change it anyways. :)

Yes and No, if following pattern exactly as shown-then Yes. Otherwise if my own creation then No. I agree with you quilt top determines the border(s).

Most of the time I do like you, make the blocks and put the main part of the quilt together and then decide on the stopper, border, binding based on how the quilt looks. Too often if you pick a border first it doesn't go well after the quilt is done. The only time I pick a border ahead is when I find a print that I think would make a great border, then coordinate the other fabrics to match that border.

I usually use the "plan as you go" method. Takes the stress away.

I go both ways. I usually buy all the fabric at once. Occasionally, though, I don't like border & binding fabric when the main part is finished. Then I have to go shopping looking for something I like better--golly, darn.

Other times I wait for the quilt to tell me what the borders should be.

PLAN is a 4 letter word!

Something that's happened to me before is that I've made the inside of a quilt and then had a hard time finding the right border material for it. Now, although I don't always have the whole quilt planned, I usually do try to have the border fabric predetermined, and I try to incorporate some of it into my quilt so that it all goes nicely together.

I don't buy my border fabric until the center is finished. I have found that once the quilt is finished the pre-purchased borders don't look as good as I thought they would. The color that I thought would be the prominent color no longer is. I am going out this morning to purchase borders for 2 quilts.