Welcome Tessa. I understand the love hate thing with a sewing machine -- hopefully the new machine works for you.
Look on this site at the pictures for inspiration -- some of the quilts are "wow how did they make that" and some are "cool, I know I can do that". You only need a few basic tools, some fabric and you can have a lot of fum.
Quilterscache has been my go to site for years -- she rates the difficulty of the blocks and her directions are very clear. The internet is a great resource. If you want to learn how to do something or find (say) a tote pattern to play with you can find free ones.
Look forward to hearing from you.