Favorite cutting tip: buy pre-cuts.

Just kidding. I tend to cut as I go. I do go ahead and make up a block or two so if there are going to be issues, I see what they are. I usually make decisions about borders and binding after the main part of the top is made, but I recently made a two-color quilt (the double Irish chain I posted in Show and Tell a couple of days ago) and I went ahead and cut out the borders ahead. I had plenty of fabric and I wanted to make sure the borders didn't need to be pieced. It's a luxury I don't usually have. I have the binding already cut too.