I suppose a better word than waste would just be in that it requires so much more fabric to do it that way. I'm merely thinking of the cost here....needing 2x as much for those middle triangle pieces/getting half the triangles from the same piece as if I did it by cutting/piecing, so there goes my fabric budget. But, I'm new at this, so no huge stash to pull from, and fabric is crazy expensive here.
You are all right; it does wind up in the quilt, and it's beautiful, I certainly didn't mean it was wasteful of those who do use this method. Just that my own pocketbook can't quite take that!