.~…Here’s How…~.

The best way to learn about quilling is to quill. While the designs and patterns may be very intricate, the forms which make up those pieces are fairly simple. Pictured below is an illustration of some basic quilling shapes. All of them begin with rolling a strip of paper with a slotted tool. Then you manipulate the paper to the desired shape. As you can see, simply by squeezing the paper circle, many shapes can be formed. These shapes may also be varied by the length of paper used, the tightness of the wind and whether a slotted tool or a needle nosed tool is used. The thickness of the paper will have a bearing on the final shape as well. Experiment with strips of wrapping paper or newsprint and also construction paper or commercial quilling paper. Parchment paper used for baking is another alternative. Once you play around a bit, you will discover what materials suit your style best. You'll learn how to adjust your winding tension to produce the most satisfactory results.

. • When winding, keep the tension consistent throughout and the edges of the paper strip aligned.

. • If you're making a tight coil, glue the end of the strip down immediately before removing from the tool.

. • For other shapes, allow the coil to relax by placing it in a template of the desired size. Then glue the end down. Using the guides will help to keep your design consistent.