When I made my stripper, I had many scarfed strips, and, like you, I did not pay attention to the grain orientation when scarfing. I used a Veritas low angle block plane to do much of my fairing. I had no problem with where the grain reversed. You might want to lap the soles of your planes to make sure they are really flat, and make sure you have really sharp blades (shave your arm hair sharp!). I use a series of waterstones to sharpen, using a sharping guide to maintain the bevel angle. Also, get the plane adjusted so it take very thin shavings. On my Veritas, you can adjust the opening size, setting it very small will reduce tear out.

I really enjoy planing, the wood smells so good, and there is no noise or dust. After planing, I finished fairing with a fairing sander, never used a power sander. After a router, that is my least favorite tool.

I always hear about how much sanding a stripper takes, but with a plane, scrappers, and fairing board, it all goes by pretty quickly. Cedar is very soft, and coarse sand paper removes wood very quickly.

Ken