I grew up making clothes from patterns. I learned early on to follow the instructions, cause everything just went together easier. I do the same in quilting, and I usually leave the instructions open next to me until I can make the block (when piecing several of the same blocks) without thinking about the process. For me, it just saves a lot more time to follow the instructions the first time...
It's like the old story that I have told my kids for yrs...
A farmer hired a young boy to clean his barn out every Saturday morning. One morning he observed the boy knocking down the high places and filling in the low places. Well, the farmer just leaned against the barn door, chewed on piece of hay, and finally asked, "Son, you in a hurry this morning?" "Oh, yes sir, I am. The carnival is in town and me and my buddies are going to go." The farmer just smiled and sighed..."Well, son," he said, "if you don't have time to do it right, you sure don't have time to do it over."