Dear Sandy
yes, it is a disappearing 9 patch and sewing a nine patch and cutting it in four is the whole pattern. I started with strips of 4". Two times one strip of bright fabric with two darker on the side and one time dark fabric in the middle and the brighter ones on the side (half the lengh as you only need one per nine patch). Sewing strips is much easier. If you are done simply cut them in whatever you started out - in my case 4". This way the nine patch blocks are done in no time.
If you want to add alternating blocks just cut them after you are finished with the disappearing nine patches. So the size of the blocks wont matter much as long as they are all the same. I think big prints or panels are great for inserting in this quilt.
Go ahead and have fun! It is such a simple pattern and the outcome looks so great. I just pulled mine out of the dryer and it is so soft and cuddly - I love it!
Granny