Go from diagonal corner to the next diagonal block . You may wan to make the center then go back and it make an x design. Easy for your first quilt. Be sue wot pin every 4 inches. Good luck,love the colors and borders.

Stitch in the ditch or X (diagonal lines) the quilt would be the easiest for you..

How you are learning to quilt reminds me of myself about 15 years ago. I learned to quilt through a book called Teaching Yourself to Quilt and a great show called Simply Quilts.

my choice would be SITD with the walking foot or cross hatch, either way you need a walking foot or darning foot for FMQ. If not able to purchase you would have to tie, but if you enjoy quilting you might as well invest in a good walking foot and darning foot. I would not FMQ my first one either. I did SITD on my first one and it came out okay

Stitching in the ditch can be tricky too. When I started, I used a sort of zig-zag. . . . not the kind that was one stitch to the left and one to the right, but three to the left and three to the right. Most machines have this stitch. It is very forgiving. Then you can follow the seam lines with that, or go diagonally from corner to corner(s). Then if you don't stitch completely straight lines, it doesn't show.

Really very nice and great work, thanks for sharing with us. I like your quilt very much, your color choices are looking so nice.

I learned quilting the same way and didn't have the courage to do FMQ so I took a class. Before that I only did SID which was hard enough to stay on the line! Your machine might have built-in decorative stitches you can use.
I love your quilt and you did a great job!

Get a walking foot..its cheap. Then I would just do a straight line every two inches. Top to bottom. Easier than stitch in the ditch and looks nicer on the back of quilt.

instead of stitch in the ditch, you could stitch 1/4" from the seams

I would maybe do a diagonal grid I think you could still do it without a walking foot.