Jodi, I've just started learning to sew too! My first project was a baby's blanket. I got 2 panels and some wadding from Spotlight and just sewed it all together. There's a pic on my FB. I'm going to put a border on it - I think it's called bias tape?!

I also picked up some fat quarters, which are fairly cheap, to try out all the various stitches and tension and settings on my machine and basically just to practice sewing!

With patterns, I have started looking at the free ones online for various things like baby's blankets, oven mitts, aprons. etc and am browsing ebay for some cheap toddler sized patterns that I can practice with. So, if you google free sewing patterns, there'll be heaps. Some of them are daggy, but there are also some good ones.