I just did my first quilt last month too. Few things I found helpful:
1- sandwich some scrappys and practice to get the feel of quilting.
2-play some relaxing tunes
3-don't forget to bring the bobbin thread up, it makes your life so much easier.
I liked using a sharp needle size 90/14 for quilting.
4-you do not need your feed dog down with a walking foot.
5- start in the center and work your way our smoothing the layers as you do so.
6-try not to pull or push, let your walking foot do the work for you, a pair of gloves helps with that.
7- finally, remember, it will look beautiful and have a character now matter what.
Enjoy!