Jun 11, 2014

Quilling Tutorial: Outlined Flowers


I'm so excited to show you something completely new!

I have often admired simple line drawings of flowers and wished I could express it with quilling. Yes, I know it's ironic that I didn't have the patience to measure each strip to outline every petal since I just quilled my challenging pink poppy. So it's with great pleasure to tell you a bolt of lightning hit me with this easy-peasy-quicky idea!


Notice the random size of petals? See how the points are not always centered? I love that because I'm innately anal about my precision and this forces me to be looser, more natural, and less controlled.

I'd like to ask you to take a moment and think how I may have done this before having you scroll down to find the answer. Again, I'm LA-A-AZY! So how did I do this flower gift tag in less than 10 minutes?

Thought of some ideas? OK, scroll down to read the answer.


















I am going to call this technique "Cut-Coil" because that's all I did. After pinching a traditional teardrop shape (left unglued), I cut the bottom and gently pried open the petals. I used 4 random lengths of scrap pink strips and cherry picked whatever petals seemed to fit best.


I placed the inner coil in the middle, then radiated the petals all around it, building the blossom as I went. Take care to keep the point visually aligned with the center of the flower when you are placing it down. Look at the petal pointing left. See how one side is longer than the other? I deliberately place it so it appears to be an overlapping petal, just as it is in nature. I also opened some medium-sized petals and placing them in the outer rings to make it seem more full.

These two flowers were quickly thrown together, but I'm looking forward to seeing what else can be done with it. Please let me know if you experiment with it as well!



On a side note, I apologize for my watermarked name everywhere, but my name has been removed from my photos and used without my permission for selling kits and services. I am now doing it in a way that's harder for them to remove by blending the shadow into the photo, not just typing my name on top. Does anyone know of a better way to protect your work? I'd really love to know.

31 comments:

  1. Lovely view beautiful colors
    Greetings Baukje

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  2. I love this idea! Are your flowers a couple of inches across? That's how they appear, so your initial coil/strip was quite large/long? Such a great statement flower!

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    1. Thanks so much Ann! I can always trust you to calm me down and ask the important questions :D

      Your eagle eye is bang on - the final sizes are about 2" across. I had about 3 scrap pink pieces about 2" long and 1 piece about 5" long and I didn't use all the pieces, just what looked good to me. I should have measured before proceeding but I got so wrapped up with making and showing I just skipped along! Just couldn't believe how fast it was!

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  3. This looks like something even I can do....TFS! Love the look - would be a great subject for a step by step video for us beginners....hint, hint!
    Paper Hugs,
    Jan

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    1. I burst out laughing Jan! OK, maybe... maybe I'll get over my shyness. Thanks, I do hope you'll give this a try. I can't believe how fast and easy it was.

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  4. That is SUCH A SMART idea Cecelia! I never thought on those lines at all! :) You're a clever little crafter :)

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    1. Hee hee, I'm thrilled you think so Pritesh!

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  5. Cecelia you are amazing! The flowers are so beautiful, and seeing how you did them has just made me exclaim 'oh wow!' and made me smile - how clever! Thank you for your fantastic tutorials, the combination of pictures and you wonderful explanations are so helpful and inspiring. :) x

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    1. Aw, thanks KS! That's exactly the reaction I was hoping for! Please let me know if you give it a try!

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  6. What a wonderful and ingenious quilling work!

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    1. Oh thank you so much Pily! Please give it a try!

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  7. Beautiful flowers and great tutorial, I salute

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    1. Hi Eliza Art, thank you so much! I'm looking forward to seeing someone give it a try!

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  8. Wow, what a genius yet simple idea! and it looks awesome!

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    1. Thanks Honey! I'm thrilled you like the simplicity!

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  9. What a neat idea! Thank you for sharing ! If I make any and post I will be happy to give you credit

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    1. Hi Sara, thanks so much! Give it a shot - I'm so curious how it turns out for someone else.

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  10. How did I miss this post of your's Cecelia. I could never have guessed how you did it. Love it!!!

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    1. Hee hee hee! So happy to hear you tried to figure it out Suganthi! Thanks!

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  11. I love this 'cut coil' technique, Cecelia - in fact, I've been having a bit of a play with it myself! Would it be OK with you if I publish something about it on my new blog at http://quilliance.wordpress.com ? I would include a credit to you, and a link to Paper Zen of course! Kindest regards, Philippa Reid

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    1. Hi Philippa, yes please go right ahead! I'm flattered, thank you!
      Cecelia

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  12. I'm so happy to find this blog...I'm a newbie in quilling and your designs are beautiful. And the best thing is they are doable for my learning skill hehee

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    1. Hello chotamil, I'm very happy you found my blog and find it inspiring. Thank you for your kind words! :D
      Cecelia

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  13. Pure magic. I can't believe it.

    I'm brand new to quilling. Your paper is half inch?

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    1. Hello there, and welcome to the wonderful world of quilling! I'm happy to hear you're inspired to give it a try. The paper shown here is 1/8" (3 mm). Please continue to ask any other questions you might have.
      Cecelia

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  14. How funny! I'm a beginner at all of this and last night I was working on a project I'm doing and it has one of these flowers..it actually has 5 of them but I finished one..but I cut each little strip and curled it the best I could and placed it around to form a flower..honestly it turned out ok but took me forever!!! Well, I went on pinterest today and found this post!!! If only I saw it last night lol...but I love ur idea and definitely gonna try it out. It's awesome that ur post from 2014 is still up today! Thank u for all ur work and awesome tutorials! I follow u on YouTube as well.

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    1. It was kismet! I'm sure it's going to be the first of many bouquets! I'm happy to hear you're inspired to take up quilling!

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  15. I love the idea. I've made flowers similar to that, the hard way but this looks so much easier... And why not? Lol. Brilliant!

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