I agree with everyone else's suggestions but will add some advice. Within reason, get the best you can afford, be it a rotary cutter, mat, etc. The Fiskar's starting kit (mat, cutter, ruler) looks like a good deal but my students didn't like the mat, the ruler was hard to read and kept slipping, and I didn't like the cutter).
My suggestion is to get:
- an Olfa mat at least 18" x 24"
- 6.25" x 24" ruler (Creative Grid is my favorite brand, but only found in LQSs)
- 5" or 6" Fiskar scissors
- 2" or 3" small Fiskar scissors - 1/4" foot that has an attached guide bar
- self-closing rotary cutter (for safety reasons)
Everything else you might need such as seam rippers, etc., you can get in the notions section of Joann Fabric.
Welcome to the quilting world! And, remember, a lot of what you see on the QB, are things that we "old timers" have collected over many years. Also, some of us love to collect quilting stuff, a lot of which is rarely to never used; we just like it! :-)