Welcome to the board! You'll find everything you need to know about quilting from this board. As you can see many have already suggested where to watch or purchase the different tutorials. Make sure you add to your favorites or bookmark them.

Try something small, but useful. I always suggest newbees contact Quilts for kids. and ask for a free kit. They send you the precut fabric and directions for a small quilt to be given to a child in hospital. You provide the sewing, batting, and backing fabric. Then send the quilt back to them for disribution. You might also look at the easy quilt magazines at the grocery store. Then for a few dollars you will have several patterns and all kinds of tips and directions that you can refer back to in the future

Howdy and welcome, from Texas!

A step up from a rag quilt would be a faux cathedral windows. You could make it the same way as the rag quilt, then just sew down the circles on the top side. A straight stitch would allow them to rag, and a zigzag would hold them down.

My grandmother started me with a nine patch (a 4 patch would work as well), and a grandmother's flower garden (hand piecing).

I'm sure you'll see lots of other ideas.

I would suggest starting with a lap or baby quilt. Size is up to you. Don't think it has to be any certain measurements. Sew until you like what you have. This was a question my SIL asked when she started. Quilts come in all sizes depending on the pattern. I hope you enjoy the process as much as we all do here.

Better Homes and Gardens complete guide to quilting is the best overall, reference book and the only book I use as reference still to this day. Eleanor burns books are also great beginner books. Her instructions are very easy to read. I would start with an easy pattern like a log cabin, rail fence, or irish chain. There is a lot of information out there. I learned from eleanor starting out 12years ago sand used my BHG as a reference book later on when I really got into quilting more often

Just a note: Quilts for Kids kits are free, however they charge $7 each kit shipping in the US (via Post Office)...just wanted folks to know.

Anita

One thing to do Bonnie is read almost everything these wonderful quilters post here. They know a lot of "tricks" or techniques that you will need to not only make you quilting wonderful but a lot less difficult and stressful.

where are you located

I am a firm believer in taking lessons from your LQS. It is really worth the price. Take a basic quilting class that will teach you all the "basic" and then you can expand from there. The class that I took we made a 9 block sampler that taught us how to make flying geese, Half square triangles and other piecing.