I persevered.
My whole purpose was to *practice* new techniques. Paper piecing (I've only done one and it was not a complicated pattern), and a Lone Star. Oh yeah, and a mini. So to practice, I kept doing it until it was right. Thankfully I was using 20lb computer paper or I would NOT have had any paper left to keep piecing!
Good news. I've just finished the 2nd "arm" of the star. The 2nd time around was MUCH quicker. I only ripped one seam once!!