There are actually 9 blocks--each diamond shaped. You make 2 of each block, one in each of 2 color ways for every month, with additional months for assembly and the gray to black background. The blocks are not difficult, but if you are an erratic stitcher, you will run into problems with assembling the top-- diamonds need to line up nicely to work out well.
The pillow pattern in the back is a nice way to use up scraps left over from strips cut for the blocks, but it's not really the same kind of construction as the blocks.
I starch very lightly, and have had no issues with stitching the blocks. Keep in mind that the pieces are not tiny, and because they are strip cut, you are not as likely to get distortion of the bias edges as you might if you were cutting many tiny pieces with templates and scissors and handling/ pressing them repeatedly. Also, using the specialty rulers, you cut the angular pieces with blunted tips, which makes precision piecing easier in my experience. Things line up best with this design with pressed open seams, as I mentioned before; not my preference usually, but this is a place where they do work best.