Kristen:
Thanks for the suggestion on how to cut the fabric for pieces. I'll try it with the next block.
I'm not so sure that your Zero blocks are not useable. Perhaps you want to make a flange border for those blocks. It could be quite striking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DapTlyxKuY8
Thanks again for the answers to my questions. Can't wait to get back to working on block #1 again.
amh