I first thought that all the squares had to be the same size - but one could put a couple of rectangles here and there to make it come out to a workable length.

Some of the embroidered designs might even look better in a rectangle??

thank you all so much for the help. I've done what Pennif said and it came out very well. I have to re-do the last border it was 1/4 inch to wide and not paying attention I CUT 1/4 inch on both sides instead of an 1/8 inch on each side. But my little brain hurts ;) so I will stop for today and rip (I'm a professional at that) start sewing again tomorrow. will post a pick when finished with piecing.
Thank you all again
Have very Blessed evening
God Bless Loretta.

I agree with putting a solid border around your panel making it the size you would need to do your squares. What Quiltmouse described.

You could possibly add a thin border to the panel to get the exact size for you're 5" squares.

the easiest way to do an odd size panel is to either trim it to fit the 5" or 6" squares - or - make your squares, lay them out on top and sides. Place a 'special' print/embroidered square in the corner and see how big a strip you need to fill it out. Then add a very special piece of fabric (something that either ties in all the colors or the theme) to each side of each corner piece. This will probably be between a 1/2" to 1" strips. I would use this same fabric as my binding. It will all tie together. (Also, depending on your panel and the fabrics involved, you might even add a strip halfway down the side to plump it up.)The only other way is very math heavy and if you are math challenged, this could become very frustrating. good luck.

I think I would set my block size (say 5 inches) and I would line them up from the center out, dispersing evenly to see what kind of sashing you need between them.