Thank you all for the encouragement. No, it's not so horrible that I would hide it away so that no one ever sees what I did. It was done for myself and my granddaughter so there's no worries that someone else isn't going to like it.
So, practice, practice, practice. I'm going to get some batting and backing today and start just that. I remembered that I have two old tops that I got at a thrift store. They're pretty bad but, in a way, they are wonderfully quirky old tops. One I will re-do the sashing that was hand sewn on with doubled up thread and is so puckered, especially on the outside border, that it actually looks like it was supposed to be a gathered ruffle.
I haven't tried my hand at using stencils or rulers yet. Where do you get those very thick plastic rulers and shapes for machine quilting?