Making/Planning a quilt (newbie) HELP!

So here's the story.

2 years ago, my husband surprised me with a sewing machine for Christmas.  I have since been teaching myself to sew and have even opened a small etsy shop! (yay me!) We weren't supposed to get each other gifts that year, so of course I gave him trouble.  He responded with 'just promise you'll make me a quilt one day".

So I want to surprise him with a quilt for this coming Christmas.

I have never made a quilt before, so I will do a simple pattern, I think.

Now my question is... what size should I make?  Our bed is KING size!  Should I make one to fit our bed (I really don't know what would be a reasonable size otherwise)?  How on earth do I pick colours for the quilt? How do I know what kind of quilt batting to use? And if I do make a king sized quilt (!!!!!!) is there even fabric that wide for the back or is it done in strips?

Thanks so much for any and all help.

Making a quilt isn't too hard to do, my first project was just a quilt made of squares but of course it was a babies sized quilt so i could just use a large piece for the back. With a king-sized quilt you would have to do a couple of strips sewn together to make the backing. Just measure your bed, think about what design you want to do (squares might be good for the first quilt). Then figure out how big each piece needs to be with your seam allowance. As for the wadding, any type would do, there are different types depending on if you want the quilt to be for winter or summer. My sewing teacher always made me use 100% cotton waddings because she said they were easier to use. Or you said that it was for your husbands Christmas present, you could make a smaller quilt for use in a chair/sofa and pick maybe some solid colours like shades of blues and greens, I can never find printed fabric that's suitable for a guy haha. I hope that helps, fingers crossed!!

A sofa-sized throw quilt might be as good first quilting project - not quite as cumbersome or overwhelming as a King size (although, kudos for wanting to tackle King-sized!)

Your room colors might help with the color choices.

Are you traditional?  modern?  combination?  That might help decide upon a quilt pattern.

If you are interested, I am in the process of uploading a Tutorial for a Modern Monochromatic Quilt at http://destashification.com/2012/06/05/the-mmq-modern-monochromatic-quilt-block-1-and-border/ which uses traditional blocks in a modern quilt.  (It is for my modern son - but I am a traditional kind of gal!)

The blocks are paper-pieced so successful and precise piecing is accomplished effortlessly by simply sewing on the line.

Sounds like you have picked up sewing skills quite quickly, so once you work through the process with a smaller quilt, the King size will be a breeze for you!

Good Luck! and keep us posted!