Welcome...And congratulations on a great quilt !! ...your piecing and quilting certainly do not say "first time" to me.

Lots of good suggestions here... I agree with Feline fanatic that a sampler is a nice way to learn different blocks and techniques...

The other suggestion i would make regarding fabric is what i used to do when i was starting out - and still do sometimes today.... I would pick a multicolored floral that i liked....then use it to pull other "solid" colors (fabrics that read solid but had subtle pattern in them) from the colors that were in the floral. The selvage edge will have dots or squares of the actual colors in the fabric. That way, i knew that the colors would go together.

Good luck....can't wait to see your next finished project !!

You did a wonderful job - both the quilt and the quilting! Keep up the good work.

This is a great quilt! You did a really good job on it!

I started choosing fabric by finding a print that I liked the colors in, and chosing my others from it. To tell the truth, sometimes that is all I can do, with certain quilts.

Congrats from another "Mountaineer"! I'm a quilter who lives in Charleston. Keep it up! Quilting is very addicting. "Let's Go Mountaineers!"

Great quilt!

I'm not great with picking out complementary fabrics for a quilt, either. Part of it is color-blindness, although I can see the basic 8 colors, but all the in between shades baffle me. The other part of picking fabrics that is difficult for me is how to put different prints that are in the right color set together.

What works well for me is to limit myself to 3 or 4 fabrics, use one as a focus and let the other 3 fabrics enhance it. I absolutely love 2 fabric quilts! Your quilt looks like it si 3 fabrics, so I would have been very comfortable making it!

I also don't use super busy fabrics very often.

Bottom line is that eventually you will find out what works for you and that will solve the picking fabric problem.
Meantime, ask for help at the Local Quilt Shops or buy pre-cuts.

I wish you many years of happy quilting!

Even a Marshal grad appreciates a job well done. The quilting looks great. Are you sure this is your fist quilt? Awesome

How about them eers!!!!! (People not from WV won't understand that - WV is Mountaineer territory or eers for short) WV is home to us but we have been away for quite a few years now, I LOVE your quilt, it makes me homesick.
TIP for selecting fabric: Choose one fabric that you Love/a focus fabric - then select a few other fabrics that have the same colors that are in your focus fabric. This works well and can take the headache out of selecting fabrics. For your backing, use a color from your focus fabric also.

great job. great quilting

Go to an art shop and buy a color wheel.