I love it! I don't know the name either, but someone on etsy was selling the blocks and the listing was called 72 French Braids (confusing because it looks like only 36 are shown in the picture). A picture of one of the blocks is shown in the listing too, and she says it's a 6" block, but you could make it larger too. Other layouts are equally interesting.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/73748082...-fabric-blocks