Honey, it's your quilt. You can do anything you want. I just saw a top that had small 4patch blocks alternated with whole blocks and it was really cute. If you end up sewing strips of fabric together, just remember to alternate the diection of the seams. If you sew them all in one direction, your top could end up as a curve instead of square.
Btw, hang on to that BF. He sounds like a keeper if he's willing to help your interest in quilting!