Welcome to the Quilting Board. There is a wealth of information out there. A lot of you tube videos, quilting blogs, books and magazines. I started out making a table runner, although I have a machine. I think starting out with small items at first is better. As far as a sewing machine, I started out with a low end machine that did straight stitching and zigzag stitching. I now have a Singer and a Janome. I like my Janome the best.