Hi Grasshopper and welcome to the board!
The others have given you good advice.
I want to add something: Your machine may not be adequate for machine quilting if the throat area is small but at this point I wouldn't even worry about that step. That's in the future.
I hand quilted for many years and just recently decided I wanted to learn machine quilting. I have a lovely machine but the throat area was too small (frustrating) so I bought a mechanical straight stitch only just for quilting. I love it and have improved. I still have a long way to go though.
I would invest in a cutting mat and rotary cutter. It's so much easier than scissors! (that's all we had when I started) so I know how you feel.
As the others said- start small. You will gain confidence.
Lastly, Youtube has all kinds of videos for learning the quilting process. And this board is a wealth of help and information.
Good luck
Oh- one more thing- get a good ruler