I'm a neophyte for GFGs ... so you can take it for what it's worth.
It depends what mood I am in and where I am doing it whether I make a bunch of hexies ahead and join them or join as I go.
For mine I have only been using three fabrics, so there wasn't much deciding. Just had to be careful to put the right colour in the right spot.
And ... as simple as that was ... I still managed to put a flower in the wrong spot. To remove the whip stitching was next to impossible. (Listen to me about this part ... be sure you have them in the right place before stitching!!
)
What started to be just a small table topper as a GFG trial run ...
... by necessity, grew to be a larger table topper.