I promised to report on what the mystery thing was if I was ever told. Still haven't heard from anyone in the group, but their new writer of newspaper articles (I was the old one & am glad in some ways to have been replaced) indicated that the group did a double wedding ring quilt block.
In my personal opinion, I would rather my strip set have been of consistent sizes and not an assortment of whatever I ran across as I was sewing it together. Just sayin'. And to be perfectly honest, had I been doing a double wedding ring, I would rather do it the way that Cheryl Phillips does hers. It seems much easier than the traditional method. That's just me.
As far as the other half square triangles with edges folded under, I have no clue why.
Thanks for the advice and support! As soon as I get my foot where I can use a sewing machine pedal, I have a few projects I want to do. It's been a month since I could walk or drive w/o pain and still having issues. Until then, maybe I need to practice hand quilting. lol