go to the Quilting Marine Y-tube channe lhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRhD6VH0FmU. He makes scrappy quilts and it's very freeing. I know people with OCD have trouble with that kind of quilting have trouble with it. I love it.

Always keep this first quilt as it will bring good memories and always take a picture of every quilt you make. These are two of the mistakes I made when I started quilting.
Also welcome to the QB! You will find a lot of tricks of the trade here. I am so glad you jumped right in and look forward to seeing a lot of you here on the QB!

Welcome from Michigan!:)

Old Dog-- you will be quilting like a pro before you know it! There are quite a few gentlemen quilters around. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have. (Warning: it is an expensive hobby!)
from "Quirky Quilter"

I was hoping you'd give an update on your progress! Have fun: those kids will get you every time.

Welcome to your new adventure. Let the quilting begin!

Sorry, I have had a run-in with real-life (RL), and the option to ignore it was refused. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/eek.png I have learned a lot so far and, though I am not at the level any of you are, I feel confident I am well on my way to assembling something worth sharing soon. Though I will likely be using patterns and/or kits while I continue getting my feet wet, I have been bitten. Now, to deal with RL while I figure out which side of the batting battle I am on.

The seam allowance argument "open or to one side" took me 30 seconds to decide which side I was on. I am growing gray hair over batting LOL.

Scores so far...
Fairfield 80/20 +1
HOBBS 80/20 +1
Pellon 80/20 +3
Quilter's Dream 80/20 +2
Warm And Natural 80/20 +2
aaaah!

I could make it easy on myself and buy a roll of Dacron, be done with it (Nah). And to think, I thought I had a lot of options when picking a forum to follow.

Thank you for looking, your welcome, and your support. I look forward to learning everything you are willing to share.

Welcome from Arizona

So start with smaller projects.. A bad table runner is easier to throw away than a bad quilt. I was cautiously making a control line air plane once. making sure every piece was perfect. A more experienced pilot wrote in my box. "How long to you think it will last anyway?" It was very liberating.

There are a lot of beginner quilts on U-tube