Tool Lending Program

September is here, the schools are open and soon scout, church, and after school programs will be in full swing. I have written about the Whimsiquills tool lending program before, but felt it was worth repeating. We offer teachers an opportunity to teach their students quilling at minimal expense. All they have to do is contact us (by phone, fax, or email) and we will be happy to sign them up for the tool lending program. Most of these groups have a very limited budget (if any at all), so we send them the tools they need for their class at no charge, along with some other goodies like mat blanks, bookmarks, whatever we have on hand. They tell us how many tools they need and we will send them out; when they are finished with the tools, they return them to us so we can send them on to another group. If any of their students decide they want to keep on quilling, they have the option to keep the tool at a discounted price. They can download and print shape charts, instructions/refence materials, and patterns right from our web site http://www.whimsiquills.com/ at no charge; they will get a 10% teacher discount on any supplies they purchase for classes. If you have never taught quilling before there are a number of blog posts to help you get started.

We often send out some bookmarks that can be used for the first class. Here is a design using a few of the basic shapes that would be easy to complete in a first class. I dressed this bookmark up a little by gluing a ½” wide strip of quilling paper up the center of the bookmark and then glued a punched border on both sides of the strip; they set off the quilling nicely.(In the interest of time constraints, I often prepare the punched strips ahead of time) I used 1 ½” strips to make the teardrop petals, tight circles for the flower centers, and for the ring coils (the red flower petals.) I used 3” strips to make the open S-Scrolls. There are lots of seasonal patterns that would be appropriate for gift tags or cards which would also work for a first class. Another option is just to teach the basic shapes and let the students decide what they are going to put on their bookmark or card.

I spoke last week with a teacher who has introduced her students to quilling through this program. She started with ten students, all of whom are have a great time quilling; she just ordered another 16 tools. Hopefully, there will be a whole new group of quillers coming up to keep quilling around for generations to come. That is the goal of this quilling senior citizen.

Sunflowers

I was at a nursery the other day, and everywhere I looked there were sunflowers in every possible size. They reminded me of this little card. I put an anniversary sticker on it but you could use it for any occasion. The sunflowers are easy to make. For the larger sunflower I started by crimping an 8” brown strip and then rolling it into a tight (not too tight, you don’t want to “undo” the crimp) for the center. I used a 4” strip for the center of the smaller flower. I made 3” marquises for the petals of both sunflowers. I used 17 marquises on the larger flower and 14 on the smaller. These numbers may vary depending on the weight of the paper and how tightly you wind the center. The leaves are made using the alternate side looping technique. The best way I can describe this technique, is to call it husking without pins. Instead of using the board you actually hold the paper in your fingers . . . Make a loop, pass the paper under the starting point and make a loop to one side of the center loop, pass it past the starting point and make a loop on the opposite side . . . hence the name, ASL. For these leaves, I only used three loops and the wrapped the strip around the loops to finish the leaf. This is a little harder to describe without demonstrating, but there is an awesome book, “Quilling, Techniques and Inspiration” by Jane Jenkins, which has great picture tutorials of this technique as well as many others. (I also like to use the ASL technique using different color strips; instead of making the loop with one strip, I use two or three different colors, when you make the loops, pull the different color strips (just a little) so all of the colors show before gluing them. this makeds beautiful flowers and butterflies.)

I used the Sunburst border punch for the border and glued a strip of (½” wide) of yellow to the inside of the card to make the border stand out. The sunflower theme is a very popular one which I have used on other pieces as well. Enjoy!

More paper storage ideas

Last week, I wrote about storing your strips and directed you to my blog post about the topic. I received some terrific responses and some very novel ideas from some of you, thank you for sharing them with me. Here they are for you to read.

I love this T pin idea. I've tried many tactics to keep the paper explosion under control and this seems like an economical method; nothing to lose by trying. And the portability is one of the best aspects. Thanks a lot.

Maureen

I keep my strips in a #10 (business) envelope. One color per envelope. I seal the envelope then cut the end off. Bending the 24" strips in half I stick the curved bend in the envelope and the end stick out. I put the envelopes by color in a box lid that is about 12" wide that allows for the ends of each color to stick out of the envelope. I don't pack then in tightly so they don't get crushed. I also paste a strip of each color on the envelope so I can see at a glance what colors I have.

Naomi R.

Thanks so much for this :)I quill using a tray while I sit on the sofa while I listen to the TV. I end up surrounded by paper strips, lol. I do use a craft cart that has three drawers. One is for unopened packages of paper, one for wide paper strips and one for opened packages and pieces I store in baggies. My coffee table is covered with bottles of glue, dishes of completed flowers and shapes, patterns, graph paper, you name it along with the three or four current projects. (I can't just work on one at a time) If I used your idea and created a board to store my paper I could use my drawers for all the stuff laying on my coffee table. Plus I will be able to actually FIND the colors I need and know just what I need to buy next before I run out.

Jealith

Pat, I wish I had a room I could store my strips on the wall!!! I don't have it. I do my quilling in my recliner in the living room and I want my strip near by.

What I did was order zip lock bags that are 4x12 from ebay. I have trouble with the ones the strips coming in ripping apart. I take off half of the label and stick it in the zip lock bag and then stick as many bundles of strips as I want in the labeled bag. I then take all the reds...all the blues, greens, white/blacks, yellow/oranges, etc in separate very large 12x18" ziplocks. I keep all the same main color together this way. Then I put the large bags vertically in my wooden chest at my feet so I can see the label at the opening of the large bag indicating the color family. Works for me.

Cathy

When I first started quilling, I was at a loss as to how to store them so they remained in good shape, at budget prices. I got a bright idea, and asked the local pizza parlor for a couple of extra large new pizza boxes. I cut up some cardboard strips and taped them lengthwise to make dividers. Then I could fill each slot with pinks or blues or yellows, etc. It's not as fancy as your idea, but it worked for me. As I gathered more and more quilling papers, I filed the bags in a plastic box - easy to get to, easy to see. But then I don't intend to open a quilling store!

Where did June go?

Well, June sure slipped by in a hurry! It’s hard to believe we are halfway through the year! Let me fill you in on what has been happening. Of course it is wedding season, so that has been keeping me busy. I had some of my favorite pieces on display at our local library for the month of June. The library staff was very pleased with the response to the display. A local paper did a really nice story on the display and quilling in general. I am considering having an open house/demo here since so many people expressed interest.

But the best thing that happened was an email I received which said,” I recently read your article "A Brief History of Quilling". My Aunt is Gini Antoine and she is mentioned in your article. She had taught quillig for years, published two of her own pattern books and had her own line of quality quilling paper and kits. She is now in her 80's but no longer teaching quilling and hasn't for years . . . After a couple of emails back and forth, I finally had a delightful phone visit with Gini. Gini is credited with naming the different coils in the 1960’s. I hope to do a more in depth interview with her for the blog, so stay tuned.

Father's Day

Here are a couple of really easy “guy”cards for Father’s Day (or change the stickers and make them birthday cards for the men in your life). For the first one, I made the “borders” by gluing two strips of the 1/8” brown and one 1/8” strip of the dark green I used in the duck. I use a Dotto removable adhesive for the back of the strips so I can reposition them if I don’t get them straight on the first try. For the Mallard’s body, I use a 18” brown shaped teardrop, and a 6’ shaped teardrop for his wing. For his head, I used a tight roll made with ½”black glued to .3/4” white, glued to12” dark green. Then I added a small piece of yellow for his beak.

The cattails are simply brown 1 ½” tight rolls (I used 4 for each cattail). The leaves are 6” strips made into wheat ears which I pinched at the ends. Add three 1 ½” loose scrolls and the Happy Father’s Day sticker and you are done!

The second card has a fern design. I start out by putting a 24” strip of 1/8” paper through my crimper. Then I cut small pieces ½”-3/4”and glue the cut ends together. Then glue them on both sides of a slightly curved 1 ¼” strip to create the fern. I did add a couple of loose scrolls as well. Again the “border” is just 1/8” strips glued to the card.

             

Here is the fern design in a coaster/paperweight. Hug somebody's father for Father's Day!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Here is a simple card for all of the graduates in your life. Just change colors and maybe the punch borders to make it a little more feminine for a girl graduate. I used the Upper Crest Border Punch because I wanted something that wouldn’t be too fancy for a guy. I used a removable adhesive to place the two punched strips back to back, then I glued down a 3/8” strip over the seam and centered a 1/8” over that.

My “graduate” owl is easy to make, it only uses two shapes. The owl’s eyes are 6” tight rolls wrapped in a contrasting color. The owl’s “ears” (I know they are not really ears, but they are where they would be if they were ears, confused?) are 6” teardrops. A 3” teardrop is glued point down between the “ears” as shown. Use a 4” teardrop for the beak. The sides of the owl’s face are 6” tight rolls with 3” tight rolls to fill the space next to the beak.

Fringe and glue a 1” strip of 1/8” paper for the tassel. (TIP-if you use a fringer, fringe a 1” strip of ¼” or 3/8” paper and then trim down to 1/8”.) glue tassel to back of head with a tiny piece of string. A triangle cut from 3/8” strip of black makes the top of the “mortar board”.

The “Congratulations “ stickers come in silver or gold

Mother's Day

Those of you who know me, or who have watched the video on my web site, know that I am a tea drinker. When I was growing up, my sisters and I would buy bone china tea cups for my mother for her birthday or Mother’s Day; today I proudly display her tea cup collection in my home. Over the years, my mother and I shared many cups of tea . . . I even managed to find a McCormack teapot like the one she had when we were growing up. (She sent away for it and told me it cost her $1.25). Today, my mother (who is 87) and I still share many cups of tea, but now it is usually over the phone. She lives in a beautiful assisted living center in Florida near one of my sisters, and I live here in Connecticut. We always give each other tea related gifts; in fact, that is what inspired me to make the quilled tea cup featured on the website and here on the blog. This year I am going to get to have tea in person with her in Florida, but I still decided her Mother’s Day card should be tea related. Here are the directions in case you would like to make one.

I started with a Pink card since that is her favorite color. I trimmed the card to exactly 4”x5” so I could use the Quilted Corners combo corner/border punch on it. I cut a piece of light green parchment paper and attached it behind the cover of the card to make the scallop show. Then I quilled a little white teapot. I used two full strips which I rolled together and then formed in to an eccentric circle for the body of the pot. I used a 12” strip to make the half circle for the base. A 12” shaped marquise made the spout, and a 6” open S-scroll made the handle. You will notice I made one side of the S-scroll larger than the other. I then made a 6’ crescent for the top of the pot and flattened a 3” tight roll for the handle.

The flowers in the bottom corner are made with a tiny heart punch. I put a drop of tacky glue on a ¼” hole punch and then fold and arrange the tiny hearts. Once they were dry, I arranged them with a couple of small leaves. I don’t make very many punch flowers, but I love these because they are so delicate. i do have an instruction sheet that includes directions for the little flowers. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!