First baby quilt

Can I say quilt even though its a printed panel?? Anyhow I'm attempting to make one for my sisters best friend. She wanted Noah's Ark so I got 2 quilt panels incase I messed one up! I have 3 different Noah's ark fabric & I'll pick one for the backing. The rest is for a diaperbag,changing pad,bibs,burbs & a smaller blanket. I sure hope it turns out. Any tips for a new quilter? I know that I will practice on a scrap first. I'm going to keep it simple lines & outlines of the printed blocks. I have a walking foot & about 5 different quilting stitches on my machine.Wish me luck!!

You can definitely call it a quilt!  The term refers to any blanket created from two layers of fabric with a layer of batting in between, held together by stitiching.  Although I have never quilted a panel my mother-in-law just finished two (her pastor's wife just had twins!).  She just did simple straight stitching around all of the details using her walking foot and she said it was a lot of fun!   I have quilted several patchwork quilts and my only advice is to make sure your backing fabric is nice and smooth before you baste the layers together before quilting, otherwise as you quilt your backing fabric can look loose or bunchy.  I read in a book once about using masking tape or painter's tape to keep it smooth while you baste and this has worked well for me.  Good luck with your quilt!!  Be sure to post the finished product when you're done! 

Ditto the first post.. good advice about getting that backing slightly taught before pinning the batting and panel to it. I would also suggest that you not pick out a really poofy batting.. I find it a bit harder to quilt. Don't worry if you get a few 'tucks' in the back.. this is for a baby, not a quilt show, and they definitely won't care if it's not perfect! Good luck!