Look what I did today!
It went together amazingly easy-all hail video tutorials on the net. Putting the strips together still required a fair amount of stitch-picking to get it right, but look-even the corners lined up correctly! (Can you tell I'm thrilled? :D ) Now I just need to find some batting, figure out what I'm going to back it with, and learn how to bind it.
This will be for the top of my treadle, so I can put other things on it without dinging up the oak. My goal, now that I understand what I'm doing, is to eventually make a quilt for our bed.