Good morning y'all.
Regarding strings, I didn't do them one by one, it just sounded like too much work to me,lol. And because I am using FQs and leftover strip, what I did was sewing 10-15 strips together (depending on the strips sizes) and then cut a 45 degree angle and then 3.5'' strips from there(for the blue strings that is) and then cut these strips into 3.5'' squares, there is a bit of waste but not enough for me to worry about lol. And it went fast too once the strips are cut. I haven't started with the other red strings yet, but I am planning on doing the same method, only I think I'll sew more strips initially since the squares are larger. Hope this makes sense to someone, lol.