Rag time quilts are great for beginners because you don't have to be so exact with the seam allowances. But you still learn about matching up seams and so forth. There is also practice sewing straight lines when you sew the X in the block. The cutting is also easy - you could cut the long strips for her and she could cut the squares from the strips.
I found that a walking foot makes putting the rows together much easier. Will her new machine take a walking foot?