If possible, find a quarter inch foot with a guide/blade. Your seam will have a firm edge to bump up against and you will see your accuracy sky rocket!

measure the fabric twice cut once this is a good rule to get into

Yes, yes, yes!

But I'd add that you should know your personality. If you are someone who is a "follow the rules" kind of gal (or guy) find some simple patterns and follow them precisely. When you get comfortable, break all the rules! Make a beautiful mess!

Similarly, if you are a "just do it" kinda gal (or guy) like I am, experiment to your heart's content with colors and threads and embellishments. Then at some point, try to learn some more disciplined techniques.

I'm not a regular yet, but I would say take a picture of each item you make so you can keep a log of your progression through the years. What fun to go back and remember each project.

1. Measure carefully.
2. Iron a lot.
3. 3 foot rule - stand back 3', if you can't see it from there it's good enough! lol
4. Don't buy every gadgit/ruler on the market.
5. When buy'n fabric for a project, get extra just in case...
6. Finished is better then purfect!
7. Hire me to quilt it for you *giggles*

Two things that I learned from this board as a newbie are -one- spray starch makes all the difference in cutting, piecing and LA quilting. Two- putting stripes of rubber cement on my ruler gives me accurate cuts because it doesn't shift on the fabric or the LA when quilting and I can still see through my ruler. I only have one that's 6.5" x 24" and it works for everything so far. I'm still a newbie and will eventually get more but this one is so versatile.

Relax. I never enjoyed the process until I relaxed. It is your creation ,do what you like.
I keep saying the pros didnt start out perfect but by willing to take a chance.
Meaure and sew straight are the most important lessons to learn.

learning the lingo!! What is LA quilting?

Keep a record or a book with the patterns/directions you used to make a particular quilt and a picture of the finished quilt.
I've made I don't know how many baby quilts over the last 30 years and as I come across scraps in the never-ending scrap boxes my memory gets fuzzy. None of my quilts will ever win a prize, but I sure have had a lot of fun making them and people seem delighted to get one!

I suggest taking a quilting class or having a friend help you. I learned the entire process in class from beginning to end including how to bind. It saves you a lot of frustration. The hardest thing for me was to learn how to end the binding. That was very confusing. Now I miter corners and end the binding with no problem at all. Once you learn the basics of quilting it all falls into place.