I don't care for Yellow brick road but do like Bento box. You might also look at
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/strip-twist.html
It calls for lights and darks but you can easily use a red group and a black group. It whips up super fast and has a nice secondary pattern going tying it all together. I miss that with Yellow Brick road.
Have fun! I would love to see pictures when you are done.