Before I started my first quilt, I read a quilting book cover to cover. Two, actually. Quilt! Quilts!! Quilts!!! was the easier to understand, but you may not really understand until you actually sit down to work on your first project. Even so, if you learn well by reading, I recommend reading through all the steps first, and then re-reading each step as you go. You can also watch lots of quilting tutorial videos for free online if you're more of a visual learner.
The most, most, most, most, MOST important part is to give yourself the freedom to make mistakes. It's okay. Fabric is very forgiving, and no one is perfect the first time. Or, for that matter, the one hundredth time. Just accept that you will get better the more you do it, but you will probably never achieve perfection. Do it for the enjoyment of it, and after each quilt, ask yourself what you learned from it, and what you want to improve upon with the next one.
Have fun!!! It's really addictive, and the board is here to answer questions for you!