Love with a Twist: Serene Seahorse

Our penultimate balloon appliqué for Colour & Inspiration Tuesday is here!

I’ve been shunning the internet as much as possible this week to work exclusively on my secret sewing Storm at Sea quilt for next Tuesday. But today I will briefly climb down from my hobby horse that has become a bit of a workhorse to bring you a seahorse instead.

Today our very last standard Block for the Throw size Love with a Twist quilt along – Block 9B. If you are making the Twin quilt, there is still one more bonus block to fill out the design. Read on to collect your seahorse balloon pattern and enjoy the art of making the balloon version on Youtube if you wish. All the Wow of balloon artistry, none of those squeaky noises. And then join our weekly linky party. Happy Tuesday everyone!

Where did that Seahorse design come from?

There are some seriously talented balloon sculptors out there. This tutorial is where I found the inspiration for my seahorse appliqué. If you can make these, I reckon you are going to be the next big thing at the local school fete!

If anyone asks why you are watching a guy twisting balloon seahorses in a dolphin shirt in a video set to techno dance music, tell them that “You are partying with your imaginary friend the Chameleon. Obviously.” That should deflect anymore awkward questions for the rest of the day! 😀

Just don’t head down the rabbit hole of all the other balloon tutorial videos on offer…. that’s how I ended up with an entire quilt full of appliqués in the first place! Time to get cracking on some creativity of our own. Afterall, you have all the patterns you need now to create any version of the Love with a Twist throw quilt that you like.

About the Love with a Twist Balloon Seahorse Appliqué Block

Today’s Serene Seahorse balloon appliqué is the second option for Block 9 of the throw size versions of Love with a Twist. Of course, you will also need to collect our sublime sea creature if you are making the full twin-size quilt. Block 9B sits in the bottom left corner of the Throw quilt, and in the middle of the top row 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 Serene Seahorse is Block 9B of Love with a Twist, and our twenty-third download to date. Block 9B can be interchanged with Block 9A, which was the Articulate Avian parrot balloon.
• 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. The Qwazy Quacker duck and Jolly Jumper frog in June. The Wonder Wader flamingo and two Nifty Neck giraffes in July. The Magic Monkey and the Omniscient Owl in August. And the Excellent Elephants and the Classy Croc in September.
• 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 Serene Seahorse balloon pdf pattern here

The balloon seahorse appliqué pattern can be downloaded here. Clicking on the seahorse 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) Serene Seahorse block:

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

• If you are making Block 9B for the throw size quit you will need a background fabric piece of 14″ x 21″. This measurement does not include any trimming allowance.
• To make Block 9B for the twin size quilt you will need a background fabric piece of 13.5″ x 20″. Again, this measurement does not include any trimming allowance.
• So, if you use a piece of fabric 15″ x 22″ or larger, you will keep your options open and have a small trimming allowance 🙂

You will also need:

• two main fabrics for the seahorse. One for the body (10″ x 10″) and one for all the frilly bits (7″ x 7″). My seahorse was 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. 17″ x 10″
• 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 Serene Seahorse 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

Assemble the 3-page layout diagram supplied and cover with an ironing sheet/non-stick paper. Position appliqué pieces S1 to S6 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

Likewise, add pieces S7 to S10.

Step 3

Add pieces S11, S12 and S13.

Step 4

Next, place down pieces S14 to S16.

Step 5

Add pieces S17 and S18.

Step 6

Continue with pieces S19 to S24

Step 7

Finish off the seahorse by adding all the remaining pieces S25 through to S32 and the eyeball.

Step 8

Finish off the eye to bring your serene seahorse to life.

Step 9

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

Then stitch your appliqué seahorse 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. Like today!

But first let’s look at a couple of last week’s Colour & Inspiration link ups.

Sandra at mmm! quilts has been chasing squirrels again. Specifically the same squirrel that turned my head lately too. Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts made a turkey mini quilt that I thought I needed, and now Sandra has made one too. But Sandra has gone one better and added a 3D beak! You know how the Chameleon is a sucker for anything with a bit of texture or tweaking. A tweaked beaked buddy was just the thing for him this week. Too much fun!

And Denise of For the Love of Geese has finished her mammoth paper pieced quilt. Here it is hung sideways from gutter to footpath. Denise made this quilt as a swap for another handmade item. But you’ll have to visit her post to find out her deal.

And Sew Yummy has twelve fun bright Churn Dashes to layout. She has five options on her post, and a chance for you to add your two cents worth to help her choose. Be a gem and pop over and see if you can help her out. I don’t think she can go too far wrong though…… I am loving these bright colours against the black and white circles of the background fabric in almost any layout.

Now your turn – Let’s sea what you’ve been working on

Tell us – what are you working on, or have recently finished in your sewing room? We want to know so we can visit and be inspired. Link up a blog post, an IG post or simply a photo from your computer.  See if you can get the Chameleon to turn quilted with happiness. We’d love to see your quilting colours!

• Link up your latest or recent quilt/sewing excitement. All quilt construction stages welcome – finished quilts, quilt blocks – even fabric pulls! Or inspiration sources!
• You have 50 characters in the link description…. tell us who you are and what your fantastic project is.
• URL links are not necessary to link up…. non-bloggers 100% welcome! If you don’t have a URL, you can link up with just a photo.
• Take a moment to visit some friends who came to the party – leave a little love and make their day. And a link back to Clever Chameleon is always appreciated.
• Do it now……. before you forget!

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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!

Would you like to keep in touch with Clever Chameleon and the fun quilty ideas I design as well as find all over the internet? You can follow directly for email updates, or through Bloglovin’, Pinterest, IG or FB. All your follow options can be found here. Don’t forget to link up all your current quilting projects on Tuesdays at our Colour & Inspiration Linky parties! And if you’d like to road test my newest patterns, I am always on the hunt for keen pattern testers.