Two comments - 1) I bet if you did a quilt as you go method and lay the cording under each strip before you sew the strip down, you could probably do this a little easier. 2) another idea would be to use the outdoor fabrics - they would probably waer better and they come in awesome colors these days. Even though most are $20/yd, wait for a JoAnn's coupon to make them affordable. For the backing you could use a painter's cnavas drop cloth and just spray it with a fabric guard.
I need another project......
