Thank you all for the good tips. From a newbie

Start on small things. The 1/4 inch foot and your seam ripper will become your best friends. Remember, no quilt is perfect! Have fun!!

Perhaps a bit extravagant, but I'd suggest a good chair and make sure your sewing table is the correct height. These two items will reduce fatigue and allow you to enjoy spending more time with your quilting!

I'm new to quilting and so grateful that I found this board right away. I've learned so much already from all of you and so appreciate this thread of everyone's best tips. I also like the links and resources that people suggest and have bookmarked many for future reference.

At this point I need to 'look a little less' and 'sew more'!

I work on my 1/4" seams, my cutting, my neatness. Each project I try to do better than the last. My practicality got in my way at first, only making useful items such as queen size quilts. Now i am falling for applique. I was afraid of color, now i'm grabbing color. If you are looking for a machine, a zigzag will carry you for years. you don't have to spend a lot of money. Take good care of your supplies, your sewing area, your fabric and your time. Follow through! Have fun!

Try for an accurate scant 1/4 inch seam along with precise cutting and you'll be great

Try for an accurate scant 1/4 inch seam along with precise cutting and you'll be great

Choose a fairly simple pattern to start and then go to more complex. Listen, Watch and experiment. Do not become discouraged. DO NOT!

Your seam ripper isyour friend!

Long arm quilting

I know! Longarm Quilting. That refers to the throat space on a large sewing machine made specifically for machine quilting. Mine has a 30" width and 12" height throat space which gives me about 24" to quilt in. And no, my arms are not necessarily long. :)

Quilters today don't have the time/room/relatives to put up a quilting frame and grab a needle and thread. So sometimes we quilt with our sewing machine, and sometimes we quilt with a checkbook. What used to take 100 hours to hand-quilt can be machine-quilted on a longarm in just a few hours. I think of the dozens of unfinished quilt tops my great-grandmother left behind and picture her looking over my shoulder as I work. I think she would have loved my machine!