Quilling 101

Last weekend, I taught a quilling workshop at a nearby fairgrounds. I've mentioned before that I am a judge for a local county fair. This fair, like just about every other around the country, has experienced a significant drop in entries over the past years. They decided to host a really cool event to try to solve this problem. They invited their judges and other local experts to demonstrate their crafts to teachers, Scout leaders, and 4-H leaders. The attendees would then go back to their organization to share new project ideas with the children they teach. The children will (hopefully) enter all these new projects in the fair. In addition to quilling, attendees learned woodworking, two types of stitchery, dollmaking, and photography. I heard great things about every workshop. 

In my workshop, I taught my students how to make a simple flower and a basic heart. I showed how they could be used on cards, gift tags, and placecards. Here are my sample projects:

Each person got a handout that told about the history of quilling and showed eight basic quilling shapes.

Everyone who visited my table seemed to really enjoy quilling. I'm optimistic that they will return to their organizations and share how fun, easy and inexpensive quilling is. I hope to see lots of quilling projects at the fair this year!

Special thanks to Jennifer, who assisted me during the workshop! 

If you are interested in giving quilling a try, it is a fun and easy beginner craft. You can cut your own strips of printer paper and do your quilling with a toothpick, or you can make it even easier on yourself by spending a few dollars on a quilling tool and pre-cut strips (affiliate links). Once you know the basics, you can make all sorts of cool projects.