the rule is "if you can make it look like you meant to do it, its ok"

GabySan, here is a link of the long arm machine set up http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...d-t243621.html
that my husband put together for me to do quilting. On page 1 and 2, you can see some of my quilting on the practice piece. I can't spend much time doing FMQ because of my job, but on page 15 you can see where I did a little better. I have done four quilts (baby) on my machine so far and it seems to go easier each time. So, practice, practice, practice is the key. BTW, I put my practice piece on the wall of my quilting room (spare bedroom) as a reminder of what I did when I started.

Sandra in Minnesota said exactly what I was going to say. Start small with baby quilts. They don't require a huge investment in fabric and they are a great way to test patterns and techniques. If you don't currently have any babies to give quilts to, then there are lots of places that welcome small quilts from women's shelters to hospitals to children's home services.

When I first took up sewing [about fifty years ago!!] I made many of my wife's work uniforms. Our house had some of the nicest dust rags in our neighborhood until I finally made something that looked like I wanted it to look. I found the same to be true with my quilting. I worked with cheap fabric until I could get comfortable with point and fairly even seams. I didn't obsess about anything until I felt comfortable with it. By the time I had done a few fairly good quilt tops, I graduated to tying and then quilting them. Even though I am definitely self-taught, I think I'm getting pretty competent at this quilting thing. I still make a few very nice dust rags, though. Hang in there! You'll get more comfortable as you go along.

Start with a Simple Block Pattern - make 1 Block in a size you can use for a Potholder ( finished at 8 inches mininium)
Practice your Quilting on that or a Mug Rug or Table Runner.. til you get lots of Practice..( you are still making useable items)

When I first got interested in quilting, I took tons of quilting books out of the library. I would be totally overwhelmed with the information, would wait awhile, then go back and read them again. I wanted to quilt as well as piece, so I first concentrated on learning to hand quilt (I think there is something so beautiful about a hand-stitched quilt), and have now moved on to learning machine quilting. There are so many wonderful books on quilting, and many cover the entire process from start to finish. I hope you will try it!

Start with a kitchen quilt aka potholder. When you get through, you will have something useful and you will have learned most if not all of the essential techniques involved in making a larger quilt. Make the kitchen quilt big enough--at least nine or ten inches square and be sure to put a border on it. froggyintexas

Everyone is new in the saddle once. Just because you might make something that is not perfect doesn't mean that it isn't lovely. Only buy fabric that you really like. That way you'll always enjoy looking at your creations.

welcome aboard. May I suggest for a beginner whose cutting and sewing 1/4" skills might not be great (yet!), please don't start with putting small squares together - it can be a killer matching all your corners. Start with a baby quilt and lap quilt with a forgiving pattern such as a split rail. I start my students with 3 colors, cutting strips 2 1/2" wide. This makes it easy to handle and because you alternate the blocks, it is easy on the beginner. Then as your confidence grows, you can work on other patterns. Google split rail patterns and hundreds of sites will appear. Also, craftsy has some good beginner classes, sign up when they are half price. Most important is to have fun, don't stress, we don't make mistakes - just have happy accidents.