I think everyone has their own approach. I love to fully research new things before I jump into them. So, as a beginning quilter, I've spent a fair bit of time reading, watching quilting shows, etc. I have very limited time to spend on my hobbies and creative pursuits, and I would be super disappointed to spend a bunch of time on something that turned out poorly. So it's worth it to me to take the time to do it as well as I can.
That being said, I enjoy the process AND the final product. I definitely wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun.