Welcome! I did a google search for Ohio State University quilts and picked one of the images that came up that had the O in the double Irish Chain.
http://madebymissjill.blogspot.com/2...ate-quilt.html
That blog said the O was appliqued. You are going to have to decide if you want to machine applique or hand applique the O if appliqueing is how you want to do it. You can piece the O to standardize its shape and then applique it down, or cut the O out in one piece from fabric. Play with paper in your 6 x 22 in space to get your O to the right size. I suspect youtube is going to be the fastest way to figure out how to applique the O down.
This sounds like a great project to get done by Christmas. Don't forget to show a picture when you're done.