The outside strips on the 8 inch block can be done like the attached drawing -
It's called "partial seam technique"
The colored lines indicate where one stitches.
One starts with sewing only part of the seam of the first piece attached.
Then one sews the other three pieces on "as usual"
Then one completes the seam with the first strip being attached to the first block and fourth strip.
it's a useful "trick" to know.