I haven't read all of the posts yet, but I don't want to lose my trend of thought. So please forgive me if I repeat anything someone else has said. That picture looks like a D9P (disappearing nine patch)to me. You can google D9P and find great tutorials on the block. It's one of my favorite blocks....so many ways to make variations. And as someone said, a great block to start with. And yes, I do cut as I go. First one block at a time and after I'm sure I've got the block right, then I cut a row at a time -- never the whole quilt. I've cut the whole thing before and found that I over cut so much then I had to find things to make with what I had already cut. I'd rather have my leftovers in one piece. Good luck. Let us see it after you've go the top together.