I am pondering a star quilt right now. I have outline stitched the stars and am considering a stipple/meander in the background. I use clear tablecloth plastic and a dry erase marker to audition my quilt designs before stitching. You buy a piece of the fairly heavy gauge plastic and put painter/masking tape along all the edges. The tape is to prevent you from accidently running off the edge onto your quilt with the dry erase marker. I place the square over a block and try several designs to see what I like best.