Picking a quilt pattern is like an itch....you can keep scratching until you drive yourself crazy or worse. I tend to use BING as a search engine and look at pictures ...select a few that appeal and don't always think simple, being a new quilter, as a challenge is what makes us grow intellectually as well as artistically. Once you have picked a pattern stop second guessing yourself...it is like buying a car and then calculating the mileage you get. Once it is in the driveway or in some cases "off the lot" it is too late... you own it.
Then comes the struggle: colors, plain v patterned, batiks, textures and a ton more variables...then yardage or precut etc. Most patterns suggest yardage. Stick to what is suggested, then go for what appeals to you. Take a selection and lay them out in front of you, use a door peephole to view them and see what says... "yikes" or a digital camera (phone or Ipad) and take a photo...that allows you to step back and better select what appeals. Finally pick for yourself and not necessarily what you think others might enjoy...nothing worse that working with something or "someone" you dislike.
If you ask for advice, you will get a thousand answers and remember that customer in line in front of you at the fabric store, the one that bought all those horrid fabrics...she or he could now be home, on line and offering advice from afar. That does not mean never post questions here...there are some of the best of the best here and offering amazing help...like the post just above this one and using the selvedge, but learn to trust yourself or if you need a second opinion find a colorist that you trust and then forge ahead. If you think you made a mistake...you didn't, if you think every seam needs to be flawless and perfect, remember quilting makes everything look better. Above all, if you tire of the project keep at it ....few things are worse or more expensive than a closet filled with UFO's.
Above all make this fun or try watercolors!