I learned a lot on this. The axeheads were fairly easy for me, but the half-axes sashing was a bigger pita than I expected. (And didn't come out square, for reasons I still don't understand.) Next time I bind, do it from back to front, not front to back. Picking black stitches out of black fabric is a nightmare, even in bright light. The quilting was easy, but horsing around a bed-size quilt will clearly take muscle-my hat is off to you folks who do it regularly! (And I'll be back to pick your brains about it at some point, too. :) ) There are some wonky spots, like where the sashing wouldn't not pucker under the binding, (thank heaven for busy patterns!) but overall, it's a good first effort. There are things I'll do differently next time around, but still, I'm pleased.
Also, my goal of making us a quilt for our bed, in this pattern, isn't an impossibility-I *do* have the skills. There have been things that I thought I wanted to learn to make, right up until I actually sat down at the sewing machine and made them; quilts aren't one of those things. All in all, I had fun doing it, and can't wait to make another one!