I used thangles when I started out quilting because of issues with cutting, Ive not done the star but there is a company called spinning stars that makes one that does 4 triangles at once by following two lines around. here is a link for this product, I bought mine from a quilt shop in ca, years ago there prices have not gone up.
http://www.brewersewing.com/bqss_con...gn&STRING=xxxx