Quilling Die Cuts?

I have been reading the chatter on line about the quilling die that Cuttlebug by Provocraft showed at the CHA this year. I just couldn’t imagine how a die cut system had could produce something you could use for quilling; that is, unless it was going to cut the strips. Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer and decided to take a look. I watched the video and finally realized what they were talking about. The Cuttlebug will cut a long strip of “petals” which can then be rolled up (like a quilling strip) to produce a flower. Now I have watched quillers cut these petals by hand and have even tried it myself. I didn’t like my results at all. Somehow I managed to space the petals so when I rolled them up they were kind of on top of one another and didn’t look that terrific when I spread them apart. The Cuttlebug seems to have the spacing right, but the finished product doesn’t look too much like quilling to me, maybe a little more like a punch flower. Watch the video and see for yourself. Of course there is still the debate about whether or not things like ribbons, punch flowers, or beads/pearls should be added to quillwork. (Although pictures of some antique quilling show cut flowers, wire, and chips of wax, and frequently crushed mica back grounds.) Regardless of which side of the fence you are on, people are talking about QUILLING!

I think it is very interesting that, after years of quilling being “in the closet”, when only a few of us even knew what it was, that quilling has BURST upon the arts & crafts scene as though it was just “discovered”. All of a sudden we are seeing it in magazines, videos on YouTube, quilling blogs, and web sites devoted to quilling. It’s even in home school curricula. How neat is that! Those of us, who founded the North American Quilling Guild, made it our mission to promote the art of quilling and pass it on to future generations. Well it looks like that isn’t going to be much of an issue anymore, I am seeing it everywhere. My Mom even sent me a commercial greeting card that had a picture of quilling on the front. While quilling may never catch on like scrapbooking, it seems to have found a niche in the crafting community. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this resurgence!