2014-15 Quilt Block of the Month - Month 2

Yes, each letter is a different part. There's a lot of tiny pieces in this one to get the proper shape of the cat. 

Yeah, looking at the pattern, I agree with you about doing the big triangles and also there are a few other pieces you could simplify. Most likely the author chose to do it the way s/he did because it made the pattern writing simpler. Even though there are a zillion little pieces, there are only a few shapes. So you tell people to make 10 HSTs of finished size 1" (picking random numbers) rather than 7 at 1", 4 at 2", but you only use some of what you make, etc - it can get confusing quickly. I also find it easier to get the dang sizes to match up when they're all 1" blocks rather than 1" and a 2" and a 3". It's easier for some quilters to make the same block over and over, rather than different types of shapes (the cat's back is a trapezoid, for example, and could have been a single block). 

So it just depends on the author. If it were my pattern, I would have done it like you suggested, and made a single trapezoid block for the cat's back (and a few other areas). But I prefer to have as few seams as possible.