Welcome! Nine patch would definitely be easy to do by hand. Wow your first and it's a big quilt! I've done a few by machine and it was hard because of sheer size! You are amazing! Can't wait to see it done. Batting-to me it depends of where you live, warm and natural, if you want ot fluffy use high loft, if you are quilting it yourself that would be cool to hand tie ! Good luck