I too have learned a lot from blogs and YouTube. I have also got a lot of books to help me to. I also feel like I'm doing thing the hard way, but what I do when I start a quilt pattern I check on the web to see if there is anything I can do to make it easier. If you have a quilt shop you like going to you can always ask them for help. I have four shops that I go to and they have help me a lot. I have taking some classes that have helped also. Good luck