Originally Posted by
pocoellie
First, I want to welcome you to the wonderful world of quilting. You don't have to pre-wash your fabrics first, it's a matter of personal preference and the look of the finished quilt. You don't need a fancy pants sewing machine, many of us sew on antique/vintage machines. As for your approximate age Singer, that might be a problem, the modern Singers are not the well made machines the old ones were. The top, batting, backing is known as a sandwich, there are various methods of basting the sandwich, pin, thread, spray, glue, which needs to be done, before quilting, you just need to decide which method. How "easy" the actual quilting will be, depends on how big your quilt is, how much throat space your machine has.
Starching or using something like Best Press is very helpful, make sure though that you use the starch properly or you'll end up with a mess.
Your patterns are very nice but there's no way that I would attempt them as a beginner quilter, but others have started with what I would call "advanced" patterns and done okay.
I agree that you have chosen difficult patterns to learn on. If an early project does not go well, would it discourage you from going on and trying something else? If you feel that it might, I encourage you to pick something more along the lines of patchwork to begin on. In fact, I think a sampler quilt, with narrow sashing, is a very good way to experiment with technique and color. Good luck, whatever you decide!