Since you haven't quilted before you could start with your own made quilt to learn how the others were put together and what is first and what is last - you will then understand the quilt. You can use the patterns from Quilter's Cache. They have blocks from 1" to 16+". You can start at the largest size quilt block and learn the fundamentals. Also, as far as the embroidered blocks are concerned - that is how I made my first quilts. I embroidered transfer patterns on muslin, made 2-1/2" sashing, sewed them all together and ended up with a 5x3 (blocks) =15 total blocks with a 4" border. It turned out great and that is what got me going. I made about eight of those and learned the fundamentals and then went on to the samplers and found that there are soooo many different styled patterns for samplers that I haven't sickened from it yet. Actually, it is my favorite style of quilt I make. Another is Floating Stars (check Quilter's Cache) - very simple but it turns out absolutely gorgeous.
I hope I could help you a bit. Enjoy - it is a great stress reliever and you will never know the feeling of accomplishment until you stitch that last little binding stitch. Edie