I almost bought that pattern at the Dallas Quilt Show last year - it was fresh off the press and one of the magazines had just had a spread about it that week - it's gorgeous!
Are you making yours on a light or black background? I'm probably going to go with black.
I haven't tried much of the back-basted needleturn - I'm thinking of making mylar templates and using the starch method - honestly, I'm so bad at this that it might help me keep my shapes more consistent.
I ended up buying this pattern instead - Sindy Rodenmayer sends it to you in EQ format if you choose, which I thought was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. (she also has it in hard copy and pdf's)
http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/Fiesta.html