My avatar is the MardiStar block from Quilter's Cache. Their directions are lousy but as you can see I muddled through.
If anyone's going to try this themselves, I'd recommend (1) printing a full block template and "color it in" with fabric swaps to see how all the colors work together - this certainly kept my head and piecing straight!; and,
(2) stitching the center star seams first with thread color to match the star color to where the color meets the background; then, after backstitching, change thread color to match the background fabric. This way, when you open up the block to press, all thread "disappears" from the center because it matches.