Black and White Framed Charity Blocks

This week, I pieced 20 Black and White Framed Charity blocks for Many Hands and Many Hearts. Work was a bit busier than normal for me, and even with just a few hours in the evenings, I was able to get these blocks pieced and ready to ship to Cynthia by the end of the day on Wednesday. Of course, I waited to take photographs of them after work yesterday, and today I should be able to get to them dropped off at the post office.

Black and White Framed Charity Blocks – Prepped Fabric

Because the blocks called for frames using either black with a white print or white with a black print, the first thing I did was go into my stash to see if I had any prints that matched that need. Thankfully I had 3 black with white print fat quarters and a bit of white with black text yardage. I cut all the pieces I could from those prints which dictated the total number of blocks I could create: 20 total (10 black frames / 10 white frames). Based on that knowledge, I dug through my scraps and print bins and cut out two sets of four squares in 10 different colors.

Black and White Framed Charity Blocks

I enjoyed the time I got to spend sewing the blocks together, and I look forward to seeing the combination of ways that Cynthia and her elves use these blocks in quilts.

Black and White Framed Charity Blocks – White Frame Block Detail

You may have noticed that due to the amount of fabric I had on hand I was not able to meticulously cut the white with black text print fabric to keep the text all oriented the same way around the edge of the block. Instead, I opted to orient all of the text pointing “in” toward the center of the block.

Black and White Framed Charity Blocks – Seam Securing Stitch Detail

And, as always, I sewed ⅛” away from the edge of the block to secure the seams at the edge of the block. The last time I shared about this tip I got a question about how that affects the block, so I sewed an extra securing seam along one of the blocks before attaching the final border. In the photo above, you can see that sewing a regular ¼” seam allowance after the securing seam ensures that the extra stitch line gets folded to the back side of the quilt block. The main reason I opt to do this for charity quilt blocks is to keep the seams as stable as possible. Due to the shipping and additional handling these blocks will likely receive before they are sewn into a quilt top, I want to ensure no seams start to unravel to the best of my ability. I hope that makes sense and the photo above does a better job explaining it!

Cynthia noted that Many Hands and Many Hearts often doesn’t receive as many charity blocks during this quarter due to the holidays. These are delightful and quick blocks; any chance you might have some 2½” scraps that you can use to whip up a small group of Black and White Framed blocks to send in?