Quill It! Tutorial - From Etsu Johnson

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Quill It! Tutorial - From Etsu Johnson

First and Foremost after printing and cutting out any coloured strip to be used in a quilled shape,

fold it in half lengthwise – that is: so it is half it’s original width, but the same length. White sides

to the inside, coloured sides to the outside. As shown below:

Where I have provided you with very thin strips for spiralling/wrapping around your base object,

then unless stated on the sheet, you do not need to fold these in half. Do take extra care when

cutting out the thin strips, and make sure the white side is out of sight as you roll/wrap.

When you place your work on your card/project you will be placing it with the creased/folded edge

uppermost – so the colours show. The open edges will be to the bottom of your work.

Specific instructions for each project are provided on the sheets / in the kits – using these basic

shapes/methods.

To Begin:

If you do not have a quilling tool, a cocktail stick and a dab of glue will suffice. Simply substitute

the “slotting into tool” instruction with “attach with a small dab of pva glue to the end of the

cocktail stick” (NB: take care that you can remove the coil from the stick when you are finished

rolling!).

A Basic Coil:

The secret of good quilling is to maintain an even tension as you roll the paper strip. This will

produce a more regular evenly spaced coil to work with. The finished product looks much neater,

Line up the end of the paper Turn the tool so the paper Release the coil.

in the slot on the quilling tool. winds tightly around it.

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Put a small dab of pva glue on Seal the coil by pressing A finished basic coil.

the end of the strip. Use as little down firmly onto a

as possible. cocktail stick.

Basic Shapes:

All of the shapes show below are used in my projects/sheets.

TEARDROP EYE SHAPE OVAL SQUARE

Pich the coil into a Pinch the coil at Gently squeeze the Make an eye shape,

point using your thumb both ends coil with the join on then pinch the other two

and forefinger one side sides to form a squre

RECTANGLE LEAF SHAPE PETAL SHAPE HEART SHAPE

Make in the same way Make an eye shape Pinch the coil into a Make a teardrop, then put a

as a square but with then gently press 2 teardrop, then pull dent in the rounded end,

2 long and 2 short sides opposite edges the point over to 1 using your thumbnail, or a

together side cocktail stick

These all take practice to get right, but are really pretty simple to get the hang of. To help keep

your shapes more uniform, try using a measured grid base, or if you prefer a ruler is a good

enough rough guide.

Peg:

As the Peg is made from solid paper, it is worth the trouble of smoothing the layers and tidying the

centre for a neater finish.

Roll a tight coil but Glue the end down, To smooth the centre A finished Peg

don’t let it go keeping the coil tight. place a cocktail stick

Remove the tool, and the centre and twist

tap the peg on hard

surface to even out the

layers

A Solid Coil:

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Turn in end of Roll by hand into a Keeping coil tight, A finished coil

strip as tightly as possible tight coil apply a dab of PVA glue

This is difficult to get the hang of but well worth the effort. The solid coil is also used as the base

shape for making a dome – see below: (The dome is one of the shapes used in my “box of

chocolates” shadow box card/project kit. To make the dome – gently

push with your finger or use the head of a round headed pin.

Spirals and Paper Sticks: The following shapes involve the use of florist’s wire, if you do not have any then do what I did

and get hold of a medium sized paper clip and unroll it. This is not as long as a strip of florist

wire, but I have found it works well in all of the projects I have made for CUP sheets/kits. Also a

fine knitting needle will work very well here too. With this kind of crafting I find I can let my

imagination run free! The paper sticks cope well if you use a cocktail stick to wrap them around.

Spirals

Spiralling takes practice – as with coils the secret is in keeping the tension as you roll – keep the

paper taut as you roll the wire.

Using 1/1.5 mm paper strips, When you have wound the whole tighten the spiral by

dampen the end and wrap round strip, carefully push the paper off pulling and twisting it

the wire at a 45 degree angle. the end of the wire. at the same time.

Hold the paper and twist the wire.

Paper Sticks

The important thing to remember when rolling paper sticks, is to roll the paper round the wire

tightly and keep it centrally aligned – keeping the ends even.

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1. 2. 3.

1. Fold the corner of a 2. Roll the paper tightly round 3. Glue the end of the paper in

thin sheet of paper over the wire. place and remove the wire.

the wire and glue it down

using PVA glue.

Bell Shape:

The bell shape (as used on my motorbike sheet, as well as others) is made as

follows :

Method 1: Slip end of paper into tool, and turn 2 – 3 times, adding a spot of glue to secure.

Continue rolling, gradually moving the paper further up the tool to achieve a bell shape. Add a

little glue every few turns to keep secure, glue off loose end.

Method 2: Make a tight roll. Push over sharpened end of a pencil or small round pin head, or

special tool to give bell shape. Smear glue inside bell – allow to dry.

Use whichever method works best for you.

You will see on some of my sheets I have used greys and yellows where gold and silver would

look great (for example the bike bell/tank/wheel inners and handles all would look stunning in

silver). This is due to the fact that most domestic (home) printers cannot well reproduce these

colours, so grey and yellow are used instead. Feel free when working to use your own strips of

gold or silver paper cut to the sizes I have given you on the sheet if you wish. My aim on the

sheets is to give you the colours and strips you need to make the items, together with instructions –

as ever with CUP kits/sheets – be creative in your card making! Most importantly of all, have fun!

To Conclude: Take care when cutting out the colour strips not to leave any white edges showing,

and to be neat and straight. When folding down the length of the strip again try to fold evenly

down the centre. If any white does show try and keep this to the inside of your coil as you roll.

Lastly, when you glue the finished sheet to your card/project, make sure the coloured edge of the

folded/creased side is facing uppermost, with the raw edges facing downwards onto your work.

Thank you for looking.