In order to have success, you must read the instructions

 The saga of my quilt squares ... I tell ya, I'm smarter than this, except for when I'm not. 

I've come to the determination that this Dancing Stars pattern is deceptive. Based on the shape of the cut pieces and how you sew them together, you'd think they should together one way. However, after you cut out the diamond-like shapes you sew three of them together, and then you trim them down into square pieces, and then sew those pieces together with the angles going a different way. 

Clear, as mud, right? 

The other night I ripped apart the pieces of block because I sewed the pieces together incorrectly.  I had 3 sets of four when I should have had 4 sets of three pieces sewn together.  

Then I tried sewing all the pieces together and had weird circular wrinkles going on.  I thought "Oh, that's not going to get fixed if I redo this square." and moved on. 

Then I had an instance of sewing pieces together  and realizing they didn't match the first square I pulled together.  It was a moment in which I was SO frustrated.  I ended up ripping apart that first square and moving the pieces around so everything was the same. 

All the pieces were sewn together. ... 

And wrinkles. ... 

By this time I was like, "What the heck?" I'm obviously doing something wrong. 

I dug out the instructions, looked them over, and mentally slapped myself on the head. 

Well, for one thing, I'm not supposed to sew all those pieces together. 

Each 3-piece quarter is trimmed down to a square.  Then you sew all those pieces together.  Only not in the direction you'd think.  I was thinking I had to sew all the pieces together, and *then* trim the entire thing down. 

In this photo it shows what the pieces look like before and after you trim them. 

I trimmed them so the center piece is as even as possible.  Then when you sew the 4 square pieces together, the larger part of the center piece faces the center of the finished square. 

The finished piece looks a LOT different than what I was originally trying to do. 

I've been fighting with this for way too long.  It could have been completely avoided if I had just sat down and looked at the instructions, and actually READ what it said, instead of half-glancing at it all. 

Once I started sewing and trimming the pieces the way they were supposed to, everything fell into place and came together really quickly. I finished these blocks last night at 9:59 p.m. 

I think there are eight more sets to go. Now that my brain has worked it all out, I'm really hoping the rest is a cake walk.