quiltmouse

Wow. I like that. I don't think the rock garden block one is quite it, either. There are HSTs in only two of it's corners.

The original quilter made the blocks with Y seams. You could get away from the dreaded Y seam.

You would piece the block not in 4 column 4 rows, but in 3 columns (A, B, C) by 4 rows (1, 2, 3,4).

Your first block is 3 columns and 4 rows of the first color, say orange.

2[SUP]nd[/SUP] block is the one with the white block
ROW 1
A1-orange/black HST
B1-green print
C1-black solid
Row 2 & 3
A1 solid orange and A2 orange print sewed to the white square (equals the 4 blocks that would be B2/B3/C2/C3)
Row 4
A4 light orange/green print HSt
B4 light green
C4 green print.
(What would have been Column D becomes column A in the 3 column 4 row unit.)
You continue on alternating orange unit with white unit.

Note. These directions are for all four rows of the orange units. The green units rows would be only rows 2 & 3 of the green units, because the orange unit top row incorporates bottom row of green unit, and orange unit bottom row incorporates top row of green unit.
Col A
a1 green print
a2 green solid
col b and c is the sq in sq
That's the green unit

the white/green unit is col A green sold & green print, with Columns b & C being the large white square.