I use poly all the time, and the quilts turn out fine. I have Warm and Natural cotton in my closet and may get it out because I am running out of the poly. To me, it made my quilt a little too heavy and since I am handling it on my regular sewing machine, I really notice the weight. So either one is ok, start with what you have or you are just going to get bogged down and discouraged. I assume you are doing applique if you are using fusible web? I am just starting hand applique and doing the needle turn. I do not use any fusible web so far, just needle and thread.
It's fantastic to check out a lot of resources but sometimes it can be overwhelming. Everyone has their own opinion and it will be up to feel your way and develop your own methods and techniques. I am not discounting anyone's recommendations but everyone has a different experience level and thought process.

So what if you make a mistake here and there. It is not life and death. Hugs to you.

Thanks slbram for that information. Seeing how this is my first attempt at quilting, I would imagine my daughter in law won't be too upset if the quilt doesn't come out perfect, although I am going to try my best to do everything right. I tend to be a perfectionist. I use to make draperies for people but it became way too stressful because if I didn't like how something looked, I'd rip it out and start again so I stopped doing sewing for other people.

I have a feeling your first quilt is going to be a lot better than most first time quilters. It's all good.

Well, we'll see. Just hoping it looks good enough to give to my daughter in law.

QAYG is well worth the time to learn it, makes quilting on your home machine so much easier. It is the only way I quilt.

In the tutorial section of this board there id a QAYG by Ditter. I have made two quilts using her method. Both turned out great.
Good luck.

Thanks Jingle. I'll take a look at it.

I started on my QAYG and got my applique fused and stitched to the center of my quilt. I've basted my first border to one end and basted the center block with the applique and my center is looking a little lumpy. I'm hoping this will smooth out once I sew and press my first layer but am I stuck with the lumps because I did something wrong in my stitching?
I'm including a picture of what I've got so far.
I know the applique stitching isn't perfect but please keep in mind, this is my first attempt at quilting and doing an applique.

I usually starch & press my top before I layer the quilt sandwich. You really shouldn't need to press once it's layered together. It looks like there might be tiny tucks in your seam with the purple sashing. To prevent that, what I do with applique is always cut my background fabric larger than what I need for the unfinished size. Once the applique is complete, I trim down that piece to the proper size, starch & press it, then seam together with sashing/next block. I press again before layering my quilt sandwich.

The other issue is layering the sandwich. You want to tape nice crisp backing fabric to the table/floor (I use masking tape -- you could also use painter's tape). Gently lay your batting on top of that, smoothing out any wrinkles with flat hands from the center outward to the edges. Then, lay your quilt top on the pile, again smoothing from the center out using flat hands. To baste, start in the center & work toward the edges. You can use pins, thread or glue/basting spray. I've found that only stitching the edges produces bubbles/wrinkles on the back of the quilt because it doesn't allow the fabric anywhere to go. I make sure I've done a good job securing from the center outward before adding the stitches along the edge (their primary purpose is to keep the edge of the fabric from turning under & getting caught in the stitching somewhere in the middle of the quilt).

I think if you go back & starch/use sizing and press the top pretty well prior to quilting, you'll find it smooths right out. Those few tucks along the seam will become less noticeable once you quilt along that seam. Typically, you want to quilt from the center out, but because this is such a small piece, you could try quilting along the edge of the sashing & working your way down to the other edge.

Super cute elephant! Good luck with the rest of your quilt!

Thanks for all that information and help. I'm glad I haven't sewn anything else yet. I'll work on all your suggestions tomorrow before I go any further.