I agree with you 100%! I need a mentor in person. No matter how I measure, cut, line up, sew a seam, make a block, the next block is not the same. Multiply that into a whole quilt.
I am at the point where I no longer want to do that kind of quilting.
No matter how I try, the quilt becomes such a burden: sew, rip, sew, rip....
I've read books, magazines, on line tips, this board and I still cannot do these things so my blocks will "line up." Even when I square up the blocks, they are not the same! Oh, I can't sew a straight line even though I use the proper foot, an edge on the machine to guide it, etc.
Good luck to you, jcrow! I wish I could help.