Thanks all!
Steven, you can just lay out the basket bits, then when you glue it to the plywood there are two options for the little squares.
You can add black dye to the veneer glue and lay it on a bit heavier so it fills up the space when pressed or you can fill the spaces by grouting in some black timberMate or black dyed resin after the basket part has been glued to the plywood.
That's how my various other patterns were done like with the "FLW lillies" from a month back.