Look at Elise1's post yesterday "last 4 quilts finished". She made one with offset squares. It looks great!

Can you off set the blocks? I am not sure if that is the right term. What I mean is that instead of matching seams, just line them up like a brick wall where the seams are staggered.

I would definitely finish it and use it with pride - after all, think of how much you have learned and the expertise you have gained! And a lot of times the quilt that I made that is not "perfect" turns into a favorite quilt because I REALLY use it!

Several years ago I started a kaliedoscope quilt. I had half of them done and it became a UFO. Last year I decided to complet the quilt and may seams were more accurate. The first ones were a little smaller. I put shashing between the blocks and the smaller ones became the top and bottom rows. Only if someone measures the blocks will they be able to tell that they are different sizes.

Isn't it wonderful! Someone else has already been there and don that. More importantly, they are ready to share their experiences and solutions.

with strips, a simple thing is to offset them so they don't need to line up at all, putting a sashing strip between every 8 of your 8x48 layout

2 different seams ! make 2 quilts instead of one !!!! I did !!
 

2 different seams sizes ? Make 2 quilts I did !!!!

Love this idea.

Regarding tying a quilt: my sister told me to use the stitch on my machine that is used to sew on buttons. It ties the quilt very nicely. The two kids' quilts I did that way are still being used all the time and the tying has not failed. I'm guessing that you will have to tie them closely. Can't remember the distance between each tie that I did. My grandsons love the quilts and use them all the time. They've had them about 8 years now.

I just saw a quilt with white sashings but each row was set off from the one above. you could do that by making every other row shorter or longer by adding 1/2 block. then no vertical seams to match up at all. have fun!