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Friday, February 5, 2010

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!

7 comments:

Michele said...

Pat, I just saw the link on NAQG to the Cuttlebug Video. I own a Cuttlebug and never imagined it would be incorporated into quilling, but there it is. I agree with your take on the result - looks more like a punched flower. And while I think the results are pretty, and fast, the best news is that people are discovering quilling in the process. I have to say I am very excited about this product. Not for what I can create with it, but the attention "quilling" will get from it. It is like free advertising. Thanks for your blog, and for all that you give to the art of quilling.

Anonymous said...

Wow I love the new cuttebug dies. The flowers would look great with frilled rolls in the middle. I will definitely buy some if they ever come to New Zealand.
I'm also glad quilling is becoming more popular and have my fingers crossed that it will do so over here too, then supplies may be easier to get. Thx for showing us this!

Unknown said...

Love those flowers! Although I do agree that I wouldn't really consider it quilling. I would love to make those flowers with different scrapbooking papers...oh boy! I think I'll be getting that die.

helen said...

I love your roses! I am new to quilling and I am excited about the dies. This will reduce my creating time tremendously. But I wish they would come out something to cut the quilling strips.

Elizabeth said...

I've been quilling for a few years, and I still find myself needing to spell it out because when I tell people about it, they think I am saying "quilting"!... and then I still often need to go on to explain what it is. So while I think it's cool that it's becoming more popular because it is such a fun and relatively inexpensive pastime that produces beautiful results, I also enjoy the fact that I do something that is still relatively unique, for my neck of the woods anyway! :)

Unknown said...

Pat,
Thank you for letting us know about it. I see that they have folders for cutting strips too. That's nice to see. I'm curious how they are going to work out. Hopefully it will bring more people into our world of quilling. It deserves to be recognized. I guess that will be my upcoming tutorials soon! Thanks again for all you do!
Monica

Unknown said...

Thank you Pat welcoming me back, ca't wait to get started again!
Rosie x