Well I am a fairly new quilter also. The first thing I learned was
Get a large cutting board.
Second.
A large ruler
Third
A good Olaf cutter
Fourth
Cut straight as possible (sic) yeah beginners don't.
Fifth
Go with it. Read books, go to quilting bloggers sites, see how people do and most of all have fun with it.
I made a twin size quilt for my first project. Of course Ididn't know about the quilt shrinking a bit (15") when I quilted it. But I learned about measuring and I love quilting.
http://[email protected]
You can see what a beginner goofs at and still loves it. My blog has been a journey in the quilting world.
Hope this helps you.
I