If anyone is interested, there's a youtube video tutorial. As I watched the struggle with the backing it dawned on me that if you were to use half inch seams, you could clip them and have it reverse to a rag quilt. This type of quilt gets very heavy when wet, and rag quilts have to be washed at least once, so that might be a consideration, but there are oversized machines in most commercial laundromats. There just might be another little puff quilt is in my future. I made only an 18" pillow using this technique in about 1980 when one of the popular magazines featured it. I think it's possible I still have the clipping in my hoard somewhere and will update if I find it.
This tutorial uses charm squares for the top, which is a plus, and he does it exactly as I remember from all those years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1PN6WU7_CU