I just finished a couple of rag quilts that are used with stuffed animals for police cars in our area. It is a quilt guild project. I made mine with charm squares. I used a 4 1/4" square of batting between two layers of flannel. I see no reason why you can't use half squares (or anything else) to make a design. You could stitch the seams of your star to the inside and clip around the outside of the design. I think it sounds exciting to try. They are lots of fun to make.