I have not been quilting too very long, but I like bed sized quilts. I have done a sampler in a class, but didn't feel I got a great handle on any one block doing it that way. So, in order to best learn particular skills, I set about making quilts with one technique at a time. I did a bed sized scrappy quilt entirely with small squares and learned how to make all those seams line up. I made one entirely out of small half square triangles, and by the time I was done, I could set those points and work with biased edges with no difficulty. They're skills needed for lots of different types of blocks and I enjoyed working a technique till I felt confident in it.
Everyone has their own strategy, but I think it was beneficial to me to learn well (through repetition) the basic skills that let me take on blocks I like as I come across them, rather than aiming for particular blocks.