Hi Penny: If you lay out your material with the salvage on the right your straight grain will be vertical or up and down. The cross grain will be horizontal and will be a little stretchy when you pull on the fabric. When ever possible make your cuts on the straight grain. If I were you I would stick with only cotton fabric for a while as mixing fabrics can be quite tricky.

thank you

You'll be sorry i have lots of questoion.

do you pre wash material ?

I hope you have a nice cutting mat and a rotary cutter, I find that the 45mm works nice. You should invest in several quality rulers and squares and triangles for templates. A few good quilting books would be helpful, and don't forget this awesome quilting board.

Always always always.

I don't know how you are about colors and patterns, but if you are like me, just get what hits your fancy. However, since you are new. I would only buy fabric for the project that you are working on, well at least until you get the QD that we all have. Right now I am slowly starting to build a stash. I get just what I like. I don't have lots of money to spend on fabric but I buy just a little extra than what I might need for a project. that way any extra can be used for another quilt.
as for the cutting I just starch and fold my fabric then cut the way that will give me the best shapes for what I am working on. It does matter a little, but that is mostly for certain projects. good luck and I hope that you really enjoy quilting. this board is the best for asking all sorts of questions.

pre-washing is a personal preference. I only pre-wash those that I suspect will bleed(the colors run out of the fabric because the dye wasn't set right). These are mostly batiks and many different reds. there are some purple and blue bleeders but not many. if you are worried you can always cut a section to test to be sure.
Another suggestion that I have is regardless if you pre-wash or not is to get starch and practically soak your fabric in it. I have recently started to do that and it has made my cutting and piecing sooooo much easier.

Personally I haven't pre-washed so far. When I work with all cottons I don't have any problems. Working with other fabrics and synthetics is another story. I definitely will from now on pre-wash, starch and press all fabrics that aren't cotton before cutting out any pieces.

if i can figure out how to post a pic i will show you firt square. oh coarse i did this before all your good info.

I think the best way would be to pick up a magazine and find an easy pattern with beginner instructions. Then buy required fabs and go easy with it. Quilting is such a satisfying hobby. It grows with you and in you. Love to hear from you next year as you do grow. Or even show us your first project.