Welcome! I, too just joined this board not long ago, although I have been quilting for a long time. It's great to get together with other quilters and just 'chat' and share.
To answer your question about the block I do it this way. If you start with a 2 inch center then you will have 5 one inch strips on each side. These are the FINISHED size, so don't forget to add your 1/2 inch for your seam allowance.
3 inch center with 3 1 1/2 inch strips on each side. Again add your 1/2 inch for seam allowance.
Start with your center size, subtract that number from your finished block size then divide that number by 2 then divide that number by the number of 'steps' you want.
12 inch block minus a 2 inch center = 10
10 divided by 2(each side of center) = 5
5 divided by 2 (number of steps) = 2 1/2 (strip width)
Don't for get to add the 1/2 inch seam allowance.
Does that help?
Anybody else have another way?