Thanks, bear, for doing that. I think I would just take out the top two middle stars. Take off the bottom row, too, and switch those six stars around until you like them. That's why it is good to hang your quilt in a prominent place so you can look at it for a few days/weeks/months? Something will hit you between the eyes, and you know you have to change that.
As for the black corners, they are not really noticeable because of the black that goes around everything anyway. And I like the idea of a black stop border and then the addition of larger borders (flying geese or whatever else trips your trigger) to make the quilt bigger.