I was making this same runner the other night and was dealing with the "tilted" center square issues, and ended up just using an all over star fabric. Anyway, when I put it on the table, the first thing I did (as I always do) was to put the centerpiece right over the center block. If I'd have thought about it, I'd have saved myself a lot of time worrying about the center design as it gets covered up anyway. Live and learn!