Bad luck Sandy. No, you are certainly not the only person who gets
things wrong - infuriating as it is.
One tip which might help in the future, if you're doing appliqué onto a
finished block. First of all make sure the block you are going to
appliqué on is the right size to start with. Then use some form of
stabiliser on the back of the block to reduce the risk of 'shrinkage by
appliqué'. Although effective, it is not an easy technique.
It is worth trying a test block before doing a technique which is new to
you - or if it hasn't worked well in the past. This does take some
time, but not nearly as much as you have spent doing all the alterations.
My next job is to take out as large rectangular block from almost the
exact centre of a quilt. All the blocks are different, and this one
simply doesn't work ... I have resisted the amendment for many weeks;
but now I really must do it, because I don't want to start my next piece
of work with a glaring 'design error' in the middle of the last!
I know a lot of people do all the cutting for a quite right at the
start, so that they have all the pieces ready to start sewing. I
honestly don't have enough confidence to do that, and I tend to cut out
enough pieces to get one section done, and then another section. If
your pattern is repetitive, you can cut all after the first section has
been made.

Hope something here will help - for the future if not for now, as you
seem to have corrected your current project to make good the problems.

Pat on the green
..
On 19/07/2015 15:49, wrote:
Am I the only one that has these bad days where everything you do is wrong?
I got my two different blocks done and the blocks that I did the applique on gave me the beginning of my problems. The applique made them shrink so when I put the two blocks together I am short by say 2/8 inch. Have you ever shorten a block that has half squares and flying geese on the edges? Each row the blocks are reversed. Need I say any more. The borders were cut from 4 yards of vertical repeats of the same pattern or so I thought but found some were 6 1/2 inches wide and some 6 inches and I had already cut out the 4 corner blocks which now did not fit. The next screw up took place when adding those new cut corners, cut the border, then realizing I had not allowed for the seam allowance. Now I had to patch this place. I was so mad at myself. The only thing that kept me sane was that the quilt was for charity. Who ever gets it should not mind a few errors.
Sandy$