A wholecloth is usually an unprinted muslin. You can do either natural or white. I prefer the white. It looks stunning when finished.
Baste with a white poly covered cotton. Don't use pins... they just get in the way when you are quilting, and you need the basting to remain in place until you are finished.
Use a thin batting like warm and white. I prefer cotton...
Use a good cotton thread for quilting, either one made for quilting or just a mercerized cotton. If you use just regular thread, make sure you wax it. You can get the wax and holder at JoAnns if you don't have one.
Make sure you use a thimble! You would not believe the people I have talked to over the years that gave up on quilting because they didn't like the feeling of a thimble. Now I cannot do any hand sewing without one.
As to needles--I use a size 8 or 9. I know that supposedly the smaller the needle the smaller the stitches, but I don't go along with that. All I do is get frustrated because I cannot see to thread the needles! And when I say thread 15, I mean put 15 needles on the thread and pull one off at a time. It is a good indicator of how much thread you are using. I pull out a 2 foot length of thread, wax it, and then put the knot as close to the end as possible. Then I quilt... when the time comes, I put that needle in either an emery sack or the waste basket... You will not believe how many needles get bent, and the 8s or 9s do not bend as easily. If you have 15 needles that means you have used 30 feet of thread. Not much, but when you consider you will probably do that at least 10 times over the course of the quilt top, depending on size, that is a whole lot of thread.
Most of all, relax. This is fun, remember??
Anita in Northfield