One of my first quilts was a precut log cabin. I took a minimum of tools to my mom's house for the weekend. I started sewing the blocks together. Egads!!! It never occurred to me that none of the logs were cut to the right size. I hadn't brought a cutting board or anything other than scissors to cut thread with. I decided, oh what the heck? This is a practice quilt and I will just ease in any extra length or width whenever needed in each block, thinking that since everything was cotton, it would crinkle when it was washed and you wouldn't be able to tell. To my surprise, everything matched up enough and the quilt was square. My daughter still treasures that quilt.
Current days, I figure out before I start sewing by using practice material where I need to set my needle to get the right seam length and width before I start sewing. My blocks don't need trimming up. If they are 1/8" off, it will get eased in. My older clothing sewing skills do come in handy every once in a while. "smile"