Quilling & basic techniques - Tutorial

Paper filigree or quilling is a very popular craft hobby. Its probably been there since the birth of paper itself. Quilling projects have kept me glued for hours. Once you start, it is hard to stop. It is always a wonder that something so beautiful and colourful can be made by simply rolling or weaving strips of paper.

Here today, is a series of videos ranging from making your own quilling tool to quilling beautiful patterns using various techniques.

I've tried to cover almost all techniques of quilling viz:

1. Coiling 

2. Fringing 

3. Beehive 

4. Banding & Malaysian quilling

5. Combing

6. Husking

7. 3-dimensional

Few basic things required in your quilling kit are: a good pair of scissors, glue, the quilling tool and paper strips. To learn all the techniques you would also need a comb, quilling board and some pins.

When we learn something new and are not so sure about it, not wanting to invest a lot of money in it is quite natural. I faced the same challenge when I started to quill and thats when I made my own slotted tool. A piece of wood, a big needle, hammer and a pair of pliers is all you need to create your own tool. Follow the video and make your own slotted tool.

Apart from the slotted tool, a needle tool is also used for quilling. For beginners, I would always suggest the slotted tool. The slotted tool makes the rolling process pretty simple. Once you are a pro you can go ahead with the needle tool too.

You have the tool now, so lets begin with the first method - Coiling.

This is a basic and the simplest method. All shapes are made from a basic paper coil. In the picture below shapes have been displayed made with this technique. I've tried to create as many shapes as possible.

Watch the video below to go about the coiling technique in detail.

Fringing - the word comes from fringe. Fringe the paper strips-cut strips along the strip and quill these strips to make patterns. This technique is mostly used for making flowers. I have added a video below to display various flower patterns that can be created from fringing paper strips.

Next we have the Beehive method. To make this continuous swirl pattern you need to know how to coil first. Its pretty simple and mostly used to fill out various shapes. Watch the video below to do a beehive yourself.

                              

Wait for my next blog for the remaining quilling techniques and a small project. Till then you can get started with making your own tool and creating magic with colorful strips of paper.

Until next week, happy quilling :)