Love with a Twist: Nifty Neck Balloon Giraffe

Shall I tell you a tall story….?

Sure! Once upon a time, there were two slightly naughty, spotted goats who lived with their grandma in a thatched cottage in a small village. Their names were Girome and Giraldeen, and they were non-identical twins. Girome had already grown a little larger than Giraldeen, and a little bit naughtier too.

One day Girome said to Giraldeen, “I spy a new lolly jar! Let’s raid it”. And Giraldeen replied “I like your thinking, but we’re banned from climbing the shelves. Remember?”

“Ahhh…..” said Girome, “But Nan didn’t ban us from using our Ninja skills. We won’t be climbing to get it”. And with that Girome fetched a rope.
“Ninja skills?! Do we have Ninja skills?” wondered Giraldeen. “Indeed” assured Girome, “We are kids, of course we have Ninja skills”. And he tied the rope around his middle and explained to Giraldeen what he wanted her to do.

Disaster!

Giraldeen had never been particularly good at sports, but Girome insisted. Honest! So Giraldeen whirled Girome around and around with the rope, attempting to throw him up to the lolly jar. But unfortunately, when she let go, Girome overshot the shelves. Instead of nabbing the lolly jar in an awesome Ninja move, his head lodged in the thatch in the ceiling, where he stuck fast. Giraldeen’s throw was way off the mark!

Attempting to put things right, Giraldeen pulled and pulled on the rope, but when Girome finally popped free his neck was streeeeee-tched. Giraldeen took one look and burst out laughing. She was laughing so hard she couldn’t talk. “Gir….. Gir…. ha ha hafff, Gir hahahaha, Gir haff”, she spluttered.

Read on to finish this tall story, collect your two gir-haff balloon pdf patterns and find out all the details for making the most of the next block of the Love with a Twist quilt along.

The Tall Story Continued…..

Girome was so incensed, he grabbed his twin and deftly drop kicked her straight up into the hole. Her head also stuck fast. Giraldeen thrashed her legs about furiously, and as she did, her neck also began to stretch. Eventually her legs dangled low enough that Girome, with his new height, could pull her out. Giraldeen was now nearly as tall as Girome! On seeing her stretched neck he smiled. “Gir haff yourself,” he said. Giraldeen turned her back on Girome in a huff and stalked away.

Nanny goat was not well pleased of course. The hole in the roof was mended but the twin’s necks stayed long. However, the two kids were pretty chuffed with their nifty necks, as they could now reach all manner of things, and get into plenty more mischief as well. So they soon made friends again, and even started their own Gir-haff club. And by the wonders of peer pressure, it wasn’t long before all the kids in the village had deliberately stretched their own necks and joined in.

And that is the story of how giraffes came to be. It also explains why if you Throw your giraffe it will be taller than the Twin.

Which brings me to why we have two almost identical giraffe patterns today. To fit nicely on each quilt layout, the Throw giraffe is taller than the Twin. And they face in opposite directions too, simply for the best aesthetics of each quilt. Or perhaps Giraldeen is still a tinsy bit annoyed with her brother, when it suits her. 😀

About the Love with a Twist Giraffe Balloon Appliqué Blocks (seriously now)

Today’s giraffe balloon (Nifty Neck 3B) appliqué is the second option for Block 3 of the throw size versions of Love with a Twist. Things are a little more complicated than usual with our giraffe balloon block though, because I had to change the size of the block on the Twin quilt to get things to fit nicely. So, you will need to collect a different giraffe balloon pattern (Nifty Neck 3B1) if you are making the full twin-size quilt. Block 3B sits in the top right hand corner on the throw quilt, and Block 3B1 site halfway down on the left edge of the twin 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 Nifty Neck is Block 3B or Block 3B1 of Love with a Twist, and our fifteenth and sixteenth downloads to date. Block 3B can be interchanged with Block 3A which is the flamingo.
• 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. The Toddling Turtle and Bonny Butterfly in April. The Responsible Rabbit bonus, the Rascally Rabbit and the Fabulous Fish blocks in May. And the Qwazy Quacker duck and Jolly Jumper frog in June.
• 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 two Nifty Neck giraffe balloon pdf patterns here

The giraffe balloon appliqué patterns can be downloaded here. Clicking on the balloon giraffe appliqué pictures directly below will download in a new tab. Using the red buttons will open the pdfs right here under your nose. So you if you like pushing the red button, you will also need to use your back button after the first pdf if you want to come back and collect the second.

Throw Quilt Balloon Giraffe Pattern Block 3B

Twin Quilt Balloon Giraffe Pattern Block 3B1

**** It is really important that you print these pdfs 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 documents. If your printout is successful, these will measure 1″ square. The documents are designed to fit on US Letter and A4 paper. ****

What you will need to make the (raw-edge appliqué) Nifty Neck balloon giraffe blocks:

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

• If you are making Block 3B for the throw size quit you will need a background fabric piece of 13″ x 26″. This measurement does not include any trimming allowance.
• To make Block 3B1 for the twin size quilt you will need a background fabric piece of 14″ x 24.5″. Again, this measurement does not include any trimming allowance.
• So, if you use a piece of fabric 15″ x 27″ or larger, you will keep your options open and have a small trimming allowance 🙂

You will need (for the larger giraffe 3B of the Throw quilt):

• one main fabric for the giraffe’s body, approx. 10″ x 15″, and a second fabric for the spots (4″ x 6″).

You will need (for the smaller giraffe 3B1 of the Twin quilt):

• one main fabric for the giraffe’s body, approx. 10.5″ x 10.5″, and a second fabric for the spots (4″ x 6″). My Twin quilt giraffe was made from Island Batik fabrics from the Ditty collection, given to me by Island Batik.

You will also need:

• scraps of white and black fabrics for the eye
• fusible paper-backed fabric adhesive, up to 20″ x 10″ depending on which giraffe
• 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 Balloon Giraffe Appliqués

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

Assemble the 3-page layout diagram supplied and cover with an ironing sheet/non-stick paper. Position appliqué pieces N1, N2, N3 and N18 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). The pieces for Block 3B1 are numbered in the same order as Block 3B, but with subscript 1s as the differentiators, ie N₁1, N₁2 etc. The example shown in the pictures is the right-facing Twin giraffe 3B1.

Step 2

Add the body (piece N4) and also put on the first horn N19.

Step 3

Add leg N10, and spotify your giraffe with blobs N5, N6 and N7. Use tracing paper to mark the position of the spots as described in the tutorial for the balloon poodle (step 6) if you need help getting them into place.

Step 4

A giraffe needs a neck, so piece N8 is next.

Step 5

Add the rest of the giraffe’s spots N11-N16. Also fuse down the last leg N9, and the second ear, N17.

Step 6

Add the second horn with piece N20.

Step 7

Finish the main part of the giraffe off with the head (piece N21).

Step 8

For the final touch add the eyes and a nose. Pencil in a line for the mouth, as well as the folds in the ears.

Again, use tracing paper to mark the position of the eyes, nose and lines as described in the tutorial for the balloon poodle (step 6) if you need help getting them into place.

Step 9

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

Stitch your appliqué giraffe 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.

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!

P.S. Shared on BOMs Away at What a Hoot Quilts.

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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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