Quilling is the art of creating compositions from paper strips twisted in various ways. This activity is very exciting. To try your hand at this kind of fashion needlework, you do not need to purchase expensive equipment.
Quilling originated at the end of the 14th century, when monks, making medallions, wound strips of paper around the tips of feathers. Until the end of the 19th century, this type of needlework was practically not used anywhere, and in the 20th there was a real boom, not only reviving the medieval type of needlework, but also raising it to a new level of development.
Today the quilling technique is very popular. With its help, they decorate photo frames, make original postcards, create magnificent paintings and voluminous works. Even a beginner can cope with simple forms, but skill and professionalism will be required to create a picture.
Materials for work
In needlework stores you can find special tools for working in the quilling technique: paper cut into strips, winding and cutting devices, and other important little things thatfacilitate the painstaking process of work. But for those who just want to try their hand, you can get by with improvised means.
You will need paper to work. If you don’t have a professional one, A4 colored paper will do. It must be cut into equal strips with a thickness of 3 to 9 mm, depending on the work ahead. You can ease the work by cutting with a clerical knife, pressing the paper with a steel ruler.
To get even parts, you need a ruler with round holes of different diameters. Officers' rulers are sold in the stationery departments - they are quite suitable. You also need PVA glue, scissors, a pencil. To simplify winding the tape, you can use a toothpick, one end of which needs to be split a little to secure the edge of the strip in it.
Basic elements
The creation of quilling works is based on basic elements that you need to learn how to perform.
Combining these simple elements, you can create real masterpieces:
- Spiral: twist a strip of paper into a tight spiral. Glue the end of the paper. If a larger roller or with a transition of colors is required, then finishing one strip, glue the next one.
- Loose spiral: twist the paper into a roller and loosen slightly. To make the spirals the same size, you can use an officer's ruler by inserting a blank into a round hole. Seal the edge.
- All other quilling elements are made from a free spiral:drop, eye, semicircle, leaflet, triangle, square, bird's foot and others. For each element, a spiral is twisted and pinned with fingers on one or more sides, depending on the shape being given.
- Fringe is an element that is used to create flowers, feathers and give volume to the work. To make it, you need a strip of paper with a width of 1 cm or more. Cuts are made from one edge along the entire strip, not reaching the end by 2 mm. The thinner the cut, the more fluffy and beautiful the flower will be. For daisies, the optimal cutting width is 3-4 mm, and for dandelions - 1.5 mm. The fringe is twisted into a spiral as usual. Depending on the shape of the flower, there may or may not be a tight spiral in the center.
- To give airiness to the work, decorative elements are made, which are not based on a spiral. This is a heart and horns. For their manufacture, the strip is folded in half, each half is wound separately in opposite directions. In some works, a contour is made from a strip of paper placed end-to-end.
These are the basic elements of quilling, with the help of which beautiful and unusual works are created.
Postcards
Gift cards made using the quilling technique are distinguished by their originality, airiness and tenderness. On a simple sheet of cardboard, spring flowers bloom, birds flutter, fish swim by.
To create a simple postcard, you need to take a sheet of cardboard of the right color and size. Sketch with a simple pencil. Arrange elements inin the intended order and then proceed to gluing. Glue is applied to one end of the element and applied to the cardboard. This is done sequentially until all the elements are glued.
To make a simple quilling flower with your own hands, you need to glue a spiral in the center, and “droplets” around. The leaves are made from the elements of the "eyes". Even a modest bouquet of such flowers looks impressive. You can make tulips, lilies of the valley, daisies, mimosa, chrysanthemums, dandelions and other flowers. Postcards for a birthday, New Year or March 8 using the quilling technique are simple to make, but look very expensive.
Not only flowers, but also people, animals, birds, buildings and appliances can be made using strips of paper.
Crafts
Crafts using the quilling technique are made both from plain paper and from corrugated cardboard cut into strips. Topiaries and flower arrangements look very nice, which will become an interior decoration and an original gift. Mastering the technique of their implementation is also not very difficult.
Quilling is an art that has passed through the centuries and has gained a new breath in our days. Compositions made in this technique can be admired in the same way as the masterpieces of great masters.
