Originally Posted by Tartan

Welcome to the wonderful world of quilting from Ontario, Canada. You'll find lots of help here on the QB.The first pattern to start with that is easy is a 9 patch block. That is exactly what it sounds like, 9 squares of fabric layed out in a checkerboard pattern and stitched together to form a block. After you do some blocks, you decide how you want to stitch them together to form a quilt top. There is a tutorial on this board on Disappearing 9 patch which shows you how to recut the blocks to form a new pattern if your feeling adventurous.
I am assuming that you have the regular sewing equipment already? If you don't have a sewing machine you can still hand sew a quilt together but it will take you a loooooong time. For quilting today a real time saver is a rotary cutter, ruler and mat. You can start with somthing small like a placemat or tablerunner first to get started. Good luck!