Quilled Poppy in Progress (1)

The instant I saw this pink poppy on Pinterest a couple years ago, I wanted to quill it. I'm not sure how to go about it, but plan to show you the progress as I learn.

First I printed the photo at 11x11 inches to fit a square Ikea frame. Placing tracing paper on top of the photo, I quickly traced the outline and deepest lines. Then I placed 80lb text weight white paper on top of the tracing paper so I could shine a light from below, using my DIY Tracing Light Table method.

Using my nephews' Lego, I crimped my quilling strip (my first attempt of random crumpling didn't work well). On the right end of the strip, you can see I've semi-straightened some areas to make the uniform waves more irregular. I tried my best to "trace" the print out with my strip.

Pinching a few of the curves made the evenly crimped strip a completely different animal. I also trimmed all the ends to make the petal appear to be fading away when viewed from the sides.

Here is the outline completed. To glue such a long wiggly strip can be a challenge unless you are an octopus and have 8 arms - OR you can glue it an inch at a time. I cut a plastic yogurt lid into quarters and after smearing glue on the lid, I slid it under the next section to be glued, enabling me to have full control of every inch during placement.

If you give any of these methods a try, I'd love to hear about it!