Thank you to everyone - I really appreciate your very helpful advice! I have made a note of all the ideas and will definitely be using them on my quilts. I have a lot of tops waiting for backs so I will have lots to experiment on.

This quilt is just a lap size, but I generally do horizontal seams no matter the size. I have a 9" mega quilter and do my own quilting and I find that the horizontal seam works best for me as I generally load them sideways to give myself a little bit of room as I get to the end.

Again, thanks so much for the help. :)