I had every intention of making these blocks 16-18" but I was running out of strips in my scraps and would have to actually cut some for the project so I settled for 15" finished blocks. I have about 8 hours of sewing in them even doing them production line and not planning any of the blocks ahead of time. I just grabbed the next strip, any width different than the previous one and tried to vary the dark, medium, and light values as I sewed. This first layout is how I envisioned the blocks as I was making them.
On this next one I just changed the four corners to pointing out instead of in.
I had to try every block in the same position too. I like this one.
You can see on this block below that I pieced strips together too because there were way too many short ends left over. I just matched widths of strips and put any two together that were the same width. 
I'll leave the blocks up on the design wall for a couple days and then decide its final layout.
On this next one I just changed the four corners to pointing out instead of in.I had to try every block in the same position too. I like this one.You can see on this block below that I pieced strips together too because there were way too many short ends left over. I just matched widths of strips and put any two together that were the same width. I'll leave the blocks up on the design wall for a couple days and then decide its final layout. The new Amaryllis stalk has 5 buds too, just like the first one. I think last year's bulb (farthest away) is only going to have 4 buds but I can't tell for sure yet. 
The snow storm has started. Now we'll see if we really get the 8-12" that they are predicting.
The snow storm has started. Now we'll see if we really get the 8-12" that they are predicting.