Hmmm, ok, so I guess I'm definitely not going just straight scrappy. I think I'm going to do scrappy greens on the outside, alternating with a light tan/muslin, then bind it with a brown. Using greens to alternate with the muslin makes me think of leaves from the tree, which works for the whole "family tree" thing, I think. I also like the idea of the piano keys.
So I guess that means that now this will be for my parents, instead, lol! This will be much more my mother's colors; I'll have to make another one for my in-laws and just go much more scrappy with it from the beginning. Wasn't planning to do two of them this year, but oh, well!
Thanks very much for the input, that really helped me sort out what to do with it! : )