Isn't this a joyful place to come for help and get answers? And if there is no good answers, well, at least you get commiseration!
I was a solo quilter for decades and I learned by a lot of mistakes. Terrible awful mistakes I don't want other people to have to go through on their own. I still make mistakes all the time, I've just gotten better at preventing some and fixing the others.
The ease of the internet and our abilities here to post pictures helps so much.