A home for orphaned string blocks

I may have figured out what to do with the string blocks I didn't use in the Quiltville mystery quilt. They are already trimmed to work with a 10 1/2" finished block, a rather funky size, so I was unsure what to do. If I trimmed any more, their little corner triangles would become minuscule.

Then I was browsing the Connecting Threads website and saw a quilt called Treasure Chest. That quilt's block was bigger and different but it got me to thinking. And when I did I came up with this idea:

This would be the full-monty, use-up-all-the-string-blocks version that would be as large as my last Quiltville mystery quilt (which was very large, indeed) but it could be made smaller. The main block has some minor similarities with that quilt's block, but I think it looks a bit better with the string blocks. Maybe it's the red/white/blue color scheme. Maybe it's all the little triangles (all 1,296 of them). Whatever it is, I like it. But this would not be made quickly. It would be a real commitment quilt.

I don't know if it's to be or not, but it's a good idea.

Conflicted

Well, it's happened again. At some point of the Quiltville mystery quilts I become conflicted whether I want to complete the design per the instructions or go my own way. This time, it's because of the string blocks.

Here are a few of the Prickly Pear blocks and the alternating string blocks (and a little of my sewing room wallpaper too, on the right side! Small design wall.): You see, I'm not a big string block fan. Although she's cut them in half and resewn them together in an interesting way, they're still string blocks and I'm just not feeling it. That's the problem with these two block designs from Quiltville. The first one I did, Double Delight, went together well and I loved it. The ones after that, though, sometimes don't seem to jell well for me. I can't see the relationship between the two blocks. Are they related or are they simply coexisting on the same quilt?

So, I have been poking around in EQ trying out different options. I made several I liked and Husband liked too (he didn't like the string blocks). BUT, I have all these string blocks already made - what to do? Do I want to make 25 more blocks in a different pattern? Do I have enough matching scraps? I don't know. An alternative would be to set the blocks in a vertical strip zigzag set, which I love, but I would have to buy the coordinating print for the background because I don't have enough of any print that would work. And this quilt was supposed to be a stash buster.

Give me an opinion. Do you like the string blocks?