Not Quite My Oldest UFO

Back in 2014 or so I was still attending quilt guild meetings, at least on occasion. It was my turn to present a request for friendship blocks. I made up kits of batik patches in a variety of colors and asked those who wanted to participate to use those patches and their own white-on-white print to make either a 6" Shoo-fly or Friendship Star block for me. I also asked them to sign their names in the center square patch. The rule at the time was they had a year in which to make up the blocks. After that I was free to go ahead and create my quilt top. 

I have pulled out those blocks and tried to find a setting arrangement for them more often than I can remember. I may even have posted about them here in years past. I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to do when I sewed them into these columns.

I even had these batiks set aside to complete the job.

But then the process got interrupted from one cause or another (or two or three). And I couldn't quite figure out how to accomplish my vision. Like I said earlier, the columns have come out more than once since then. Last week I finally admitted defeat and committed to a simple, straightforward approach. 

I used two of the batiks I'd set aside but decided against the light blue for this step. The top was only 48" wide at this point. Six inch flying geese would get me the width I was after and would also give me a chance to use more of my favorite batiks. 

I added a little bit of the background blue across the top and bottom edges to extend the length a little more too.

I'll be binding it in the same blue. I had another batik in sufficient quantity for the back - almost.

Here you only see half of the width of the back but you get the idea. I pieced together some of my scrappy batik Hole in the Barn Door blocks and that light blue I didn't use on the front to extend the length of the back. 

Maybe one of these days I'll get out my very first set of friendship blocks - which constitute probably my oldest UFO - and see what I can do with them. 😊