Quilled Snowflake Tutorial: Part 1

Since my ceiling is approaching saturation with this little guys, I thought I'd pay the favor forward to anyone else who might want one.

Supplies

• Glue (something thick, like tacky glue)
• Slotted quilling tool (or you can make do with a toothpick or needle)
• Quilling paper, or regular printer paper cut into 1/8" strips

1. Tear your paper into

• 7 six inch pieces
• 18 three inch pieces
• 6 two inch pieces

Tearing makes for a softer edge when you glue shapes together, and also spares me having to find my scissors.
You may find it helpful to make a pile of 12 and 6 three inch pieces, as I did.


2.Make your center by coiling one of the 6 inch pieces into a tight circle. Let it spring loose and then gently glue down the end. Set aside.

3.To begin making the snowflake's legs, coil one and half times at one end of a three inch piece. Then lay the piece atop a ruler and coil from the other end until the total length is 1.5 inches. Both times coil on the same side, so the swirls face each other, like in the picture. Repeat this 11 more times so you have 12 little legs.

4. Now pair up your legs from step three, with the coils facing away from each other as shown. Pour a tiny bit of glue into a shallow bowl and use a pin to apply dots along one inner edge of a leg: press the two pieces together to make a completed leg. Repeat 5 more times, for a total of 6 legs.

5.Now fold each of the remaining 6 six inch pieces in half so you get a visible crease. Unfold and coil each side in to the center, as shown.

6. When you finish on either side, you can use your fingers to gently uncoil a bit to force the shape into a more rounded heart. Repeat 5 more times, trying to get 6 uniform hearts.


7.Coil the remaining 6 three inch pieces into circles. Let the circles spring out, glue end down, and  gently pinch one end between two fingers to form a tear drop shape.

To be continued...