Honchey has excellent advice (especially keeping your fingers out of the way LOL). I'd like to add one that to this day is the most important step I learned: placing fabric piece #1. With your paper pattern printing facing YOU, your first piece of fabric is right side DOWN. Then you can build from there. I repeat this like a mantra everytime I start a new section.
Anyone have any advice on how to cut the long narrow triangles correctly? I'm always off-either too narrow or I waste a hunk of fabric because I haven't discovered how to cut them. Thanx!