Hello and Welcome.
I mostly agree with everyone else. Her are a couple of things that I have learned and would like to share with you.
You can use an INDEX CARD to get your exact 1/4 inch marked. Those lines on the index card are all 1/2 inch apart. What I do is cut of the last line on the bottom on the card because it's not 1/4 inch. Then I put the card in my machine. line up the neddle on the line and then take masking or painters tape, and put that on my machine bed. I run the tape the whole width of the machine. In fact, I use quite a stack of tapes together to give me a ridge to work against. I sew a few stitches to make sure that my tape is straight.
I use a rotary cutter but start out praticeing on old scrap fabric until you get the hang of useing the cutter and be VERY very careful. Remember to keep your fingers away from the edge of the ruler. Those blades are razor sharp and before you even know what happens, you can cut your fingers. {I have done this...ouch}.
Try to stay away from Elenor Burns patterns until you get better. Even though her patterns are very pretty, they can be very frustating to work with at first. Plus I think she has a lot of waste with her patterns.
Don't go out and buy expensive fabric right away. Look at cheap fabric until you get more experience behind yourself. When you fell things are not going right, Take a Break!! Even if you have to walk away for a few minutes or even days, it will be better for both you and the project.
If you can find the book "Easy Four-Patch Quilting" by Jeanne Stauffer and Sandra Hatch, get it!! It is full of very easy and fun patterns, and they show you step by step instructions. I just made the Pinwheel quilt that is in that book and it went very fast and was the first quilt I made that I thought was really FUN to do. And you can make your quilts any size you want. You don't have to stick to the pattern size. You can change anything you want about the pattern, it's your quilt.
I also use grid paper to draw out my pattern and then figure out my size on the paper before I even start on the fabric. What I d is start with the size of what I want to make, and then start deducting things from that.
Exp: Quilt size I want is 70 X 56 finished. I find out the size of the blocks, say 6X6 blocks, deduct that from 70 and 56, then I know what I have left to work with for my border or borders. Hope that last part is not too confusing for you. You can PM me and I will explain it better if you want. Just remember: TO HAVE FUN!!!!! and take breaks.
Good Luck
Bev