Yes that will work and it will be beautiful. However it will have a "hot spot" to sleep under. That section of the quilt will be much warmer than the outer edges.
Several years ago I made a quilt that had a tiger panel in the center. I added the borders and then tied (with yarn) the entire quilt with the exception of the tigers. On those I used embroidery floss in black and did a hand quilted outline. It really made them pop and they even looked wonderful from the back. Just a suggestion.