hi Tiki and welcome.
you are obviously ahead of where I was when I started. I did not even own nor had ever touched a sewing machine!
the lady at the sewing machine shop had to orient me to machine basics...lol.
I know you said you didn't want to start big, but I did a BOM (block of the month) at Hancock fabrics. I learned something new each month and didn't have a big investment in fabric. just an idea for ya