Two Ways to Create Your Own Paper Quilling Strips
Quilling, also called paper filigree or paper rolling, involves rolling narrow paper strips into coils that are then attached to a flat base. Producing your own strips can reduce the cost of starting this craft. This guide covers cutting strips with a rotary cutter or a paper cutter.
By Logan Hill
Use brightly-colored paper to make your quilling pop.
Quilling, which is also referred to as paper filigree or paper rolling, is a craft that uses thin paper strips shaped into detailed coils and then glued onto flat sheets of paper. It gives cards and other paper artworks a complex, detailed appearance. If you are just beginning with quilling, you can make your own paper strips to keep your starting costs down.
Using a Rotary Cutter
Step 1
With a pencil and a metal ruler, lightly mark lines that are 1/8 inch wide along the length of a sheet of colored paper.
Step 2
Put the paper on a craft cutting mat so your work surface is protected. Line the ruler up with one of the marked lines.
Step 3
Run the rotary cutter along the ruler's edge to cut the paper.
Using a Paper Cutter
Step 1
Set a piece of colored paper so that just 1/8 inch extends past the lip of a paper cutter, while the remainder rests on the cutter's bed.
Step 2
Lower the blade to cut the paper. A paper cutter lets you produce quilling strips very quickly and with a high level of precision.
Step 3
Shift the paper 1/8 inch to the right and verify its alignment so the paper is perfectly straight.
Step 4
Make another cut to create a strip that is 1/8 inch wide.
Step 5
Keep repositioning the paper and cutting until you have the number of strips you need.
