I'm with you on the blocks Patti, if one doesn't seem perfect when you hold it in your hand on it's own, just put it in the quilt and it disappears. As for the quilting, if you have a lot of hanging around to do, then doing them by hand is perfect - all you need is a needle, thread and scissors (plus the blocks and batting that is). I was getting 5 or 6 done in an evening in front of the TV, so it really doesn't take all that long in the grand scheme of things to get them done.
I think most of us have learned a lot doing this quilt - few of us had tried everything before starting, so we all learned something along the way. I know I did - now I am not afraid of using those methods any more.