Thank you so to those that helped! I called a dear friend that got me started in quilting to begin with. I was almost in tears, and I emailed her the link and she said let her look at it a few minutes and she would call me back. When she called me back, she had the answer. She said to cut the two 2.5 x 21" strips, then to cut an 8.5 x 21" strip and then a 4.5 x 21" strip and then to cut my 2.5 pieces off each strip. Sure enough, I was able to get the correct pieces from cutting that way!
I think she was thinking along the same lines as you Bearisgray and KLO.
I feel SO relieved. I can use a small scrap in the first fat quarter to lengthen the pieces of 4" cuts to 4 1/2 and I can "make" it work, then cut the rest of the fat quarters the new way. *whew* I have to say, that I'm surprised I'm the first to notice the mistake in their pattern, and wondering why the cuts were made more difficult than they had to be? Oh well...I'm just glad there was a way to fix it and that I had my friend and the board to turn to. Thank you.