Future Quilt Designs, Inspired by the Star Chain

I've been reading old quilting magazines recently. And when I say old, I mean it. This issue of Quick and Easy Quilting is from October 2002. Since I'm a beginner, all the information is new to me, so it doesn't matter one bit if the magazine is 24 years old. 

 

This Star Chain pattern caught my eye. But it is way too complicated for me. I think I could make it, but it would take me all year. I would rather make a handful of simpler quilts to donate than put that much time and energy into one quilt. Still, I think I'm just about ready to challenge myself a bit by moving beyond a grid of 48 squares and actually try incorporating a few triangles in my quilts. I took the star motif from the inspiration quilt and used it to design some very simple quilts. Each of them has 8 half-square triangles and 40 squares, resulting in a finished quilt that is 60" x 80", as required by Lutheran World Relief.  

This design takes the 4-color square from the inspiration quilt and simplifies it so there are two colors making up the square. I really like this design. With the right colors, it could be very eye-catching despite the simplicity. 

For this design, I took the two colors of the star and moved them across from each other instead of diagonal. 

Here's a design with the star all one color. Just like the previous designs, it has 8 half-square triangles and 40 squares. 

This design looks more complicated, but it isn't. 

For the final design, I replaced the center squares of the star to make it look more like a sun. I really like this option. 

Do you have a favorite among these designs? Which would you like to see me try? Any colors you are envisioning? Let me know in the comments!