Every so often we make a quilt that almost gets the better of us right? In the end you made it work and it is a lovely quilt. Tall & Skinny might work for a twin size bed quilt so don't think it won't find a home. I encountered similar issued working on a quilt called "magic box" a quilt pattern by Donna Jordan/Jordan Fabrics. I used the strip tube ruler for the first time and what they don't tell you is it's simply not a matter of just flipping the ruler over and cutting again. You have to move it over so you can get a square, thus waste. Couple that with I cut the neutral strips wider than they should have been. Didn't end up with as many blocks as the pattern called for. Argh! At any rate I finished it and it is long and skinny too. Will eventually post a picture after I quilt it.