Hi Jade!
All the others have already given some great hints to start with a wholecloth and I can only add some of my thoughts to it.
Making a wholecloth means you mostly work with structure and structure contrasts, not so much with color and color contrasts. Every pencil line you can draw on a piece of paper you can also quilt! So creating your own designs is not so difficult - you can just turn you sketches on paper into wholecloth designs if you want. The important thing is to create contrast between open quilted areas and heavily quilted areas letting the motifs stand out.
The easiest way to start is purchasing a preprinted top, so you don't have to care for the design at the beginning. There are many beautiful tops available. I always suggest to start with a pillow cover or a wall hanging, as Holice already mentioned - you will have your success quickly!
I only do hand quilting, but you can also quilt my machine. Of course the traditional quilts are all made by hand. You find lots of information about wholecloths especially from Wales, England (look for North Country or Durham Quilts)and from France (Boutis) and I'm sure the picutures will inspire you a lot.