Paper Quilling Tips

Here we have few tips based on our experience with quilling.

• Do not use scissors to cut the end of quilling paper when you want them shorter. Rather, tear the paper; this will leave a softer edge which is easier to glue and blends in better so that the seams are less noticeable. 

• Always make extra pieces for a design so that you can pick the best looking pieces to use. There always seems to be a few pieces (or more than a few!) that don’t turn out well. 

• The insides of your quilled pieces should echo the outside edges in shape. For example, if you pinch a loose circle into a marquise shape, be sure to pinch it enough so that the inside of the piece is also marquise-shaped, not just the outer edges of the piece. This makes the finished design more uniform and pleasing to the eye. 

• If you need a longer strip of paper than what you have, tear the ends of two strips and glue them together to make one long strip. 

• Don’t worry about your designs getting smashed (for example, in a closed scrapbook or on a card you send through the mail). Quilling looks delicate, but it’s actually very strong, especially in a finished and mounted design. I have personally taken a quilled item, put it on the floor, and stood on it. It looked completely unharmed afterwards. 

• Don’t expect perfection in your work, especially in the beginning. I’ve been quilling for a little over a year and am still regularly displeased with how my work turns out, sometimes to the point where I end up throwing out finished pieces and starting over. However, I’ve learned that even a less-than-perfect quilled piece seems to awe people. It’s a beautiful craft, even when it’s not executed “perfectly”. 

• You need time and patience to quill. It’s not something you can just throw together in a hurry and have it look good. That’s not to say that it’s a difficult craft, but if you’re looking for something that doesn’t take a lot of time, this isn’t the right craft for you. 

• The majority of quilling work you see will probably be floral in nature, but you need not be limited by this. There’s more to quilling than flowers. You can quill almost any subject you want to, from zoo animals to hot air balloons. Personally, though I think quilled flowers are beautiful, I’d be bored silly if that’s all I ever made. Make things you find interesting. 

• You may also try to quill in magazine papers by cutting them into strips. 

• Feel free to play and experiment, and let your style of quilling develop over time. Don’t feel that you have to do things exactly as others have done it before you. 

Glue Tips for Paper Quilling

Learn which are the best glues for paper quilling, what different properties glues have, and more!


Best Glue Bottle For Paper Quilling

There are many ways to apply glue when paper quilling such as a toothpick, needle tool, or special glue bottle. You may also use a led pencil tip for detailed glueing.



Once after using it clean it in the running water and I'l place it in a little cup with some water. In a couple minutes you could take it out, give it a final rinse, and it’d be fine. But I’m lazy and I actually just keep mine in the little cup of water until I use it again.




Paper Quilling Water Resistant with Sealant

The most frequently asked question I get is how I make my paper quilled jewellery water resistant. What sealant do I use? Which is best? How do I apply it? Well, it’s about time I show how and what I use so that it’ll be easy for me to direct anyone toward this post instead of typing out an answer each time. Plus this includes pictures, which are always helpful!

The most basic answer I can give is that you can most likely use any sealant that you can get at your local craft store. But do be sure to read the directions, as some are made specifically for paper and some are not. Also some are water resistant, some are water proof (rare!), and some just give some sturdiness but are not really water resistant. Think about what type of coverage you want, read the bottle carefully, and go from there.


The Sealant should resist the Quilling paper we use from water. They just from a thin transparent layer above the Quilled design and protect it from water.

The most common problem is that the Sealant that you are using should suit the quality if the Quilling paper you use else it might not spread properly or might change the colour of the Quilling paper; so ensure that you try the Sealant in a sample piece of Quilling paper before you apply it on your designed art. 


Storage for Paper Quilling Strips
First of all, I have a LOT of quilling strips. I have an open pack of probably every colour that is available from Lake City Crafts. That’s a lot of paper!! So what do I do with it all? I store all of the strips still IN the original packs in these two sets of file drawers:


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I started with only one set of drawers, but I soon got another one and I have just the right amount of space. I organize the drawers by colour and/or type of paper. Here are nine of the ten drawers with labels for what is in them. In the tenth drawer I have a few mixed colour packs of papers. Mixed colour packs are great when you don’t need a lot of each colour and you are short on storage space. But as you can see I prefer single colour packs.





When I need to use a certain colour I take out the pack and take the ends of the papers out of the bag. Then you can take out as many strips as you need (undo the strip from one end , pull until the entire strip is out, and undo from the other end. When I have enough strips I tuck the two ends back into the pack and then put it back into the drawer. With some brands of paper you don’t have to untuck the ends and put them back in because the bags are longer. But the new bags from Lake City Crafts are shorter, so you need to do this. It’s not quite as convenient, but it does make the packs take up less room, so that is the pay-off. I don’t really mind.


Inevitably you will end up with strips of paper that you have not used up. These come in handy for future projects, so of course you don’t want to throw them away! I have a particular sectioned plastic container with lid that I use for these strips.





In the long section I put the 12″ pieces of paper. In the medium sections I put 6″ strips of paper. In the small sections I put 3″ strips of paper. There is also a section that holds a few of my extra tools, and a section where I put the leftover speciality papers like gold and silver edge. As you can see the container looks pretty messy, but ah well, crafting can be a messy business! The ends of the papers sometimes get a little squashed when I shut the box. This doesn't matter since when you are quilling you twirl the paper and any bent pieces get smoothed out when you do that. When I am doing a project and need just a couple shorter pieces of a certain colour I always look through this box first. When it seems to be getting pretty full (like now!) I will spend a day making gift cards to use up the little pieces. I make hearts, twirls, gifts, etc. to glue onto little cards. These cards always come in handy to put on gifts!


Sometimes you are in the middle of a project and you need to put it away for awhile, or you want to work on another project for awhile. For this occasion I have boxes to store my semi-finished pieces in. Some of these were extras for designs, some are for pieces I haven’t put together yet, some are scraps, etc. I have 3 containers like this of various sizes to keep my semi-finished projects in.





I have a lot of finished pieces around. It would not be a good use of space if I put these each in gift boxes waiting to ship out. That would also make it very difficult to find a particular piece! So I also have several containers to keep my finished jewellery, accessories, etc. in.





I group the finished pieces by style so that it’s fairly easy for me to find a piece when it gets sold. Then I can put it in a cute gift box and get it sent off to its new home to be treasured!


Because I make jewellery and accessories from my paper quilling I have a lot of other findings, tools, etc. around. I store them, and my quilling tools, in this:





There are many drawers in this, so it’s nice and easy to organize my things. Some of the bottom drawers are bigger so they are perfect for all of my quilling tools.


Paper quilling can also be a great craft to do on-the-go. Of course you can’t can’t carry everything with you, but if you have a certain project in mind you can carry with you just a few things to work on that project. The travel box that I currently use and like is this one:





It is a double sided box. On one side, the side you can see here, there are several compartments. This is great for tools, glue, little pieces, and short strips of paper. The other side of the box has no compartments, so it’s great for storing a few packs of quilling paper. Love this box!





Happy Quilling !!!!

Quilling Art

Quilling is a paper art; where we make use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped and glued together to create decorative designs depending on our need.

The paper strips can be rolled, curled, looped, twisted and otherwise manipulated to create shapes which make up designs to decorate greetings cards, boxes, photo frames, earings, jewelry, etc with our personal touch. The paper strips can be rolled in fingers or using a tool. The coil is then released and then glued at the tip and then shaped. These shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns.

The Art of Traditional Paper Quilling Shapes

Quilling was first known as paper filigree, is the art of rolling thin strips of paper, bending and moulding these curls into shapes, then putting the shapes together to form designs.

In the 4th and 5th centuries, extremely intricate, lacelike filigree work of fine gold and silver wire was found on ancient pillars, vases, and tombs in various parts of Europe. Around the 13th century, similar ornamental work became popular in Spain, Italy, and France, but by now the artists used strips of paper, rolled loosely, placed on edge, and gilded to resemble precious metal. It supposedly fooled even experts at first glance. During this period, paper filigree was almost exclusively the work of nuns and monks, who decorated religious articles with it.

Paper filigree did not win recognition as a major art form until the late 17th century, when it began to appear as other than purely religious ornamentation. Seventeenth and 18th century tea caddies, coats of arms, and picture frames containing paper filigree are now in various museums and private collections throughout the United States and Europe. By the Victorian era, fashionable ladies began to learn paper filigree along with embroidery and needlepoint.

The term quilling, as we call the craft today, is probably American. Some say the paper was originally curled around a feather quill. Others claim that once the strips of paper are curled and released, they resemble a row of barbs on a feather, or quill. Most surviving early American quilled pieces are sconce and coats of arms, many of them from the Boston area. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, other museums, and private collections have quillworks dating back to the 1600s.

After the early 19th century, no notable works of quilling appeared, and by 1950 the craft seemed a nearly lost art. Since then, as handicrafts have gained in popularity, quilling, too, has had a small revival. I think it's here to stay.

Basic Paper Quilling Shapes:

See the image gallery for pictures of these paper quilling shapes.

Tight Coil: Roll from one end tightly. Hold until glued. Release from tool, and glue the end.
Loose Coil: Roll from one end tightly, then loosen tension and release from tool. Glue one end, pulling edges to one side.
V-Shape: Fold the paper in half. Roll each end outward, away from the fold. If desired, secure the V's point with glue.
Beehive: After rolling and gluing a tight coil, push the inside up from the center with a pencil or other blunt object to contour its shape. This adds dimension. Glue inside.
Teardrop: Make a loose coil. Pinch one end to a point.
Petal: Bend the tip of a teardrop slightly to one side.
Diamond: Start with a loose coil and pinch the opposite ends. Shape with the fingers so that the center remains in the middle.
Leaf: Bend one or more ends of a diamond.
Heart: Fold the strip of paper in half. Roll the ends inward toward the center of the fold. Glue the adjoining edges.