Paper Quilling

Follow these easy paper quilling instructions to create pieces that will make great embellishments or accents to your next craft project.

Quilling
 

Materials

• Quilling Paper: Light to medium weight paper cut in very thin strips (1/8” to 1” wide and length may vary)
• Paper Glue: Thin bodied glue to adhere raw end of paper
• Quilling Tool: Some artists use anything from a round toothpick to a needle tool, but there is a specialty tool (usually metal) that has a metal tip with a slot in it, one end of the paper is placed in the slot then you’ll wrap or wind the paper strip around the tip.

Step by Step

1. Place one end of paper strip against a toothpick, needle tool or quilling tool.
    
2. Wrap strip firmly, evenly and tightly around the tool.
    
3. Apply a small dash of glue to the remaining raw end and bond the raw end to the wound circle of paper.
    
4. Carefully remove the circle of paper from tool. Allow glue to dry.
    
5. Shape circle as needed.
    
6. Usually you work from a pattern when quilling. The instructions will tell you what colors, what widths and lengths of paper strips are needed. Once you have wound and shaped the pieces you need, you will glue them to a surface to create the pattern or design.
    
7. Please note that some patterns and shapes call for loosely winding the base circle of paper. And some shapes don’t even glue the raw end. It all depends on the pattern or shape you want.

Tips

• Quilled pieces make great accents and embellishments. You can wind circles to use as flower centers, a border or a trio of dots.
• Tear your strips rather than using scissors. The feathering from the tear helps blend the raw end onto the circle.
• Dampen the end of the strip before rolling and it was temporarily adhere to the toothpick or needle tool. You don’t have to do this with the slotted quilling tool.
• Use a needle tool for the finest center hole of a circle when quilling. The slotted quilling tool will always leave a slight bend in the center.
• Tweezers are a great tool to use as you put together a pattern or design.