I've followed quite some tutorials till now, though don't have any projects to work on. I've already looked around town, but there isn't any programming club or something around for me to join.
Other than that, run through the http://RubyMonk.com lessons, and try some of the Ruby courses at http://CodeSchool.com.
The best way to learn is with hands-on stuff though. So, if you're looking to get into Rails as well, I'd recommend what jfaucett recommended: try and pick a (simple) app to build, and build it.
I'm not sure what town your in, but if you don't see any meetup groups (check http://meetup.com .. or search Google), then why not create one?
I've heard that meetup.com can increase attendance to these meetups significantly, but I think it depends on which town your in. (I.e. if people in your town don't know about meetup.com, then it doesn't matter and you can get away with a website and marketing it another way [try reaching out to Python/Perl/Web Design groups and see if anyone would be interested in meeting up to talk or learn Ruby]).
If you'll be meeting with a bunch of people who are new to Ruby, going through RubyMonk.com together can be a good way to get people up to speed. Then try Rails for Zombies Redux at http://www.codeschool.com/courses/rails-for-zombies-redux (it's free).
But, yeah, practice, practice, practice. If you want some intermediate level stuff to work on, try creating a Rails app. You'll likely come across some intermediate-level stuff.
And good on ya for looking to improve your skills and get active in a local community. That's great! :)
I hope this helps.
hope this helps, good luck!
As for building a small product, try automating a simple task that you do every day.