Quilling with Rick Whitman

It is my pleasure to introduce Rick Whitman as this week’s featured quiller. I know Rick pretty well and I am proud to say I gave Rick her first quilling lessons. I remember her sitting in the class and saying that she had just retired from her job and was looking to learn something new. She wasn’t at all sure that quilling was for her, but after her first class, I was convinced! I generally teach the basic shapes for my first class and then let the new quillers use those shapes to create a design of their own. When Rick came back for her second class, she showed us a tiny Madonna and child that she had created. Her pattern was a tiny line drawing that she found in a newspaper. From then on there was no stopping her! She quilled a tiny bouquet of flowers to match the ones her niece carried as a flower girl. Rick also does counted cross stitch. She often does bible verses which we mat (I help with the matting) and then she quills on the mat. She loves to do tiny, tiny flowers and has an incredible imagination. In addition, Rick and her husband Wil are super nice people. We always enjoy a visit with them here at Whimsiquills.

When I agreed to coordinate the first Accord Quilling Calendar (1997), I had a little trouble getting quillers to participate; some felt they couldn’t create small, “simple’ designs that could be included in the calendar/kit. Rick came up with 27 designs including a horse drawn sleigh,






garden tools,

and a tiny woven basket with fruit.

Her designs for the 2008 calendar (N2008) were also outstanding. I’ve included just a few of the pictures here.

When Accord decided not to publish the 2009 calendar, we were all disappointed. Rick had done some adorable nursery rhyme characters. Since they weren’t going to be used for the calendar she had to figure out a way to use them. She used that great imagination again. Here is what she did with them. She told me her nephew helped her with the computer generated backgrounds; these are the pieces she brought to display at this year’s NAQGCON. (North American Quilling Guild Conference 2009)

But two of my favorite pieces of Rick’s (although I love them all), are this three dimensional hummer, and this tiny replica of her own wedding cake . . . and this from someone who wasn’t sure she could learn to quill!