I would recommend that before you jump in with both feet and purchase a lot of gadgets, rulers etc. etc. that you try your hand at small project. I am primarily a hand quilter and have been at it for at least 40 years. You can make a nice lap robe or crib size quilt with preprinted fabric that looks like piecework. If you want you can make it bigger just add a few borders of plain fabric. Layer it with batting and a backing and start quilting either by hand or machine along what looks like the piecing or applique lines. Put a binding on it and no one but an experienced quilter will be able to tell that you didn't spend a whole lot of time cutting up fabric and sewing it back together. By the time you are finished you will know if you want to be a "quilter". In the history of quilting the first quilts were of "whole cloth". The "quilting" was to make it firmer and warmer. The idea of "piecework" came from the early American settlers who used every scrap of fabric left over from their clothing sewing so nothing would go to waste. Those early quilts kept their families warm and gave them an outlet for their creativity using everyday stuff in their lives. Welcome to the world of quilters. Have fun.