I don't think there's anything more frustrating than poor instructions. I recently finished a quilt that was like that. Discouraging to say the least. I bought some templates years ago made of a very heavy 1/4" plastic. It was a kit. One of the templates was wrong in the dimensions. I spent ages trying to make it fit before I just finally gave up and created my own with the correct dimensions. That is when I really realized not all pattern instructions or pieces are tested. Sometimes it's just good money gone after a bad product.
You did a great job of making it all work.