Love with a Twist: Fabulous Fish

Our last Fishy Post for the foreseeable future

We’ve been stuck on the theme of all things aquatic here for a while now, haven’t we? I’m not really sure how that happened…. maybe because ideas spark more related ideas and I have been following the ideas flow a bit more freely than usual lately. Maybe it’s just a bit of good old fashioned coincidence, since Love in the Twist was planned out in January. Either way, I promise we will move on at some point to another topic soonish…. maybe in July 😀

June will see yet more more pond creatures brought in from the cold. A balloon frog and a balloon duckling. But as May inexplicably disappears, today you have a fishy Love with a Twist pattern to collect right here first. Fabulous Fish is one of our options for Love with a Twist Block 5 – the alternative to Rascally Rabbit. Keep reading to collect your fish balloon pdf pattern and find out all the details for making the most of the next block of the Love with a Twist quilt along.

About the Love with a Twist Fish Balloon Appliqué Block

Today’s fish balloon appliqué is a Block 5 option of the throw size versions of Love with a Twist. It is actually Block 5A – we had Rascally Rabbit (Block 5B) earlier in the month to fit in with Mothers’ Day. Of course, you will also need to collect Fabulous Fish if you are making the full twin-size quilt. Block 5 sits to the left of the pig/2019 or LOVE block on the throw quilt.

Things to remember as you sew along with Love with a Twist

• There are two throw versions of this quilt, which can be re-mixed into a twin size quilt. The instructions to cut and construct the throw quilts can be found here and for the twin quilt, here.
• Today’s Fabulous Fish is Block 5A of Love with a Twist, and our eleventh download to date. It can be interchanged with Block 5B, which was Rascally Rabbit. If you are making the twin size quilt, you will actually need to make two Fabulous Fishies. I recommend making one looking right and the other looking left. There are also two bubbles included in the applique pattern -these are only required as space-fillers on the Twin quilt, not the Throw quilt.
• We have also already had the Dippy Dog and Pretty Poodle blocks in January. The Lasting Love and Pretty Pig in February. The Kuddly Koala and Graceful Glider swan in March. And the Toddling Turtle and Bonny Butterfly in April. Don’t forget, we also had the Responsible Rabbit bonus block in May.
• The appliqué templates provided are drawn in red lines and black lines. If you are doing raw-edge appliqué, ignore the line colours and simply work with the shapes supplied. If you want to do turned-edge appliqué, you will need to add a seam allowance to the black edges only. The red edges are where the shapes overlap and extra fabric allowance has already been added.

Download your Fabulous Fish balloon pdf pattern here

The fabulously fun balloon fish appliqué pattern can be downloaded here. Clicking on the balloon fish appliqué picture directly below will download in a new tab. Using the red button will open the pdf right here under your nose.

**** It is really important that you print this pdf at 100%, otherwise your pattern pieces will be the wrong size for the quilt blocks. Turn off any “fit to page” options in your printer dialog and ensure that the printout size is set to 100%. There are check boxes supplied in the document. If your printout is successful, these will measure 1″ square. The document is designed to fit on US Letter and A4 paper. ****

What you will need to make the (raw-edge appliqué) Fabulous Fish block:

If you have not pre-constructed your quilt top, you will need background fabric for your appliqué:

• If you are making Block 5A for the throw size quit you will need a background fabric piece of 9.5″ x 7.5″. This measurement does not include any trimming allowance.
• If you are making the twin quilt, you will need to make two fish, so you will need two background pieces. The first (for a right-facing fish, 5A1) needs to be 13.5″ x 7.5″. The second (for a left-facing fish, 5A2) needs to be 11″ x 6.5″. Again, these measurements do not include any trimming allowance.

You will also need:

• one main fabric for the fish’s body, approx. 7″ x 5″, and a second fabric for the fins (3″ x 3″). My fish were made from Island Batik fabrics from the Ditty collection, given to me by Island Batik.
• scraps of white and black fabrics for the eye
• fusible paper-backed fabric adhesive , approx. 7″ x 8″
• thin batting for trapunto or your favourite stabiliser for stitching (optional)
• general tools and notions: sewing machine, iron etc, teflon ironing sheet or non-stick paper, small sharp scissors, pencil, quilting pins, grease-proof/tracing paper, machine embroidery or sewing threads for appliqué and embroidery

How to put together the Fish Balloon Appliqué

Trace your appliqué shapes directly onto the backing paper of your fusible adhesive. Fuse the shapes to the back of your fabric, according to the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Then cut out each shape and remove the backing papers. They go together as follows:

Step 1

Place the layout diagram supplied under an ironing sheet/non-stick paper. Position appliqué pieces F1 and F2 in place and secure them temporarily by touching them briefly with the tip of a hot iron (or tack down with a small appliqué iron).

Step 2

Add pieces F3 and F4.

Step 3

Add the lower lip F5 and the last fin piece, F6.

Step 4

Finish the main body of the fish with piece F7.

Step 5

Add the upper lip F9 and the upper tail F8.

Step 6

Finish the fish with lower tail piece F10. If you are making your fish as block 5A1 for the Twin quilt add two bubbles to fill the allocated space. Otherwise, ignore the bubbles, because Block 5A on the throw quilt and Block 5A2 on the twin quilt are smaller than 5A1.

Step 7

Finish with the eye, and pencil in a line for the gills and a scale or three.

Use tracing paper to mark the positions of the eye and scales as described in the tutorial for the balloon poodle (step 6) if you need help getting them into place.

Step 8

Give your appliqué a thorough pressing and transfer to your background fabric.

Stitch your appliqué fish down using your favourite method. The sample I have shown uses free-motion straight stitching over a low-loft polyester batting. I layer my appliqué over the polyester batting and secure with quilting pins. Then I stitch around my shapes 5-6 times to secure them thoroughly. And finish by removing the excess batting with curved blade scissors/snips.

One Fish, Two Fish, Orange Fish, Green-blue Fish

If you are making the Twin Size Love With A Twist, you will need to make a second Fabulous Fish appliqué for Block 5A2. You can make it facing either direction, but I recommend making your second fish swim to the left. That means you need to reverse all your appliqué pieces and the layout guide before tracing and/or printing. You do not need the bubbles for the second fish, as the space allocated is a bit too cramped to add them.

Have you started your Love with a Twist quilt yet?

Share your Love with a Twist blocks with me! You can fill the Chameleon and me with joy by sharing your Love with a Twist blocks via email, or on Instagram (mention @cleverchameleon or tag #lovewithatwistquilt). Or by posting on my Clever Chameleon Facebook page. Or by adding your beautiful work to the Chameleon’s Colour & Inspiration party right here on any Tuesday.

Hope to hear from you soon!

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The Chameleon turns rainbow with pleasure when he hears from you. I am more reserved, so I will respond in gratitude by email instead. Now that it’s your turn…. Scroll right to the end, leave me a comment and tell me, what do you think? Thanks for connecting!

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