Watermark Crafts - The Craft of Paper Quilling

QUILLED SHAPE CHART

Quillworks consist of individual shapes, some standard and others irregular. The standard shapes are made the same way, even though their names may vary. Irregular shapes are spontaneously designed by individual quillers as they work and do not have names. This chart lists only the common standard shapes.

Rolls (Closed Loose Coils)
Rolls are started by using a quilling tool to roll a strip of quilling paper. The Rolls are allowed to unwind to let the coils expand naturally, and then the strip's end is glued in place. The only exception is the Tight Circle, whose end is glued closed before the circle gets to unwind.
Tight Circle	Loose Circle	Teardrop	Shaped Teardrop	Marquise	Shaped Marquise	Crescent
Square	Rectangle	Triangle	Bunny Ear	Half Circle	Arrow (Rolled Heart)	Holly Leaf
Rolls are versatile, adaptable and the most popular of all quilling techniques. Simple icons can be easily created just by using the shapes in different combinations. A typical example would be a flower made up of five Marquises. A Triangle and a Square make a house. A Teardrop and an Arrow, joined at their points, make a fish. Add two Triangles and you have the fins as well. In more elaborate quillworks, the use for Rolls is perhaps to fill up a pattern, not unlike the role tiles play in mosaic artworks.

Eccentric Shapes
Eccentric Shapes are shapes with centres that have been pulled to one side and glued in place.
Eccentric Loose Circle	Eccentric Teardrop	Eccentric Marquise	Eccentric Crescent	Eccentric Tulip	Eccentric Fan	Eccentric Bunny Ear
Eccentric Shapes are seldom used as "fill-up" despite being similar in appearance to Rolls. Instead, the preference is to use them in symmetrical designs like crosses and jewellery where the shapes' coils can mirror one another to great effect. The Eccentric Shapes are also especially beautiful when light and shade accentuate their graceful arcs and curves.

Scrolls (Open Coils)
Unlike Rolls, Scrolls do not form solid shapes. They are made by rolling one or both ends of a paper strip and usually do not require any individual adhering until assembled to form patterns.
Loose Scroll	Open Heart	S Scroll	V Scroll	C Scroll
Double Scroll	Double Scroll with Flag	Triple Scroll	Connected Scrolls
Scrolls have a delicate appearance and are generally used in conjunction with the denser and more solid Rolls to create contrast in a piece of quillwork. You often see them being assembled to form lacy borders. Scrolls are also popularly used in snowflake designs because they evoke a light and airy feel.

Huskings
Huskings are shapes made by looping or winding a strip of paper around a series of pins. The pins are fastened to a board covered with graph paper, points clearly marked out, to ensure accuracy in the sizes of the Huskings.
Straight Husking	Husking	Husking with Collar
Huskings frequently serve as flower petals in floral designs, though sometimes they may double as leaves as well. Huskings were featured quite prominently in antique quillworks.

Wheatear Coils

Wheatear Coils are made by looping a paper strip in a straight line. This is usually done by holding the paper in the hands, instead of on a board with pins like Huskings.

Wheatear Coil

Look out for Wheatear Coils whenever you see a quilled butterfly. They will most likely be used as the wings. You can also find Wheatear Coils used for the depiction of long leaves or grass and long stems, in place of Rolls which cannot be made as long.

Grape Rolls (Cup/Cone Coils)
Grape Rolls are tight solid coils made from pushing or working Tight Circles into conical shapes. Variations are achieved by manipulating the conical shapes in different ways.
Grape Roll with Rounded End	Grape Roll with Flat End	Grape Roll with Pointed End
Three-dimensional Paper Quilling is achieved with the use of Grape Rolls and comes in the form of free-standing objects like Miniatures and Jinisans (three-dimensional paper representations of people). Grape Rolls are easily recognisable in Jinisans because these objects are almost entirely made up of them. Similarly, Grape Rolls are just as identifiable in Quilled Miniatures. Some of the standard shape forms of Grape Rolls, like those shown above, actually appear as pots, vases and crockery in Miniatures simply because they look the part.

Fringed Flowers
Fringed Flowers are made by fringing a paper strip with a fringing tool and rolling it into a tight coil. The fringes are then spread out to "open up" like the petals of a flower.
Fringed Flower (Pom Pom)	Fringed Flower with Centre
You can easily spot Fringed Flowers. They are basically used as they are - flowers! Pom Poms also makes their appearance in quillworks that portray furry or fluffy subjects because they bear such a close resemblance to fur.

Crimping • Zigzagging • Spiral (Tendril)
Crimping is made by running a strip of paper through a crimping machine to achieve a soft, wavy appearance for the paper. Zigzagging is a series of angular, concertina-like folds made by hand. The Spiral is made by rolling a paper strip in a spiral shape around a wooden pick or a pin.
Crimping	Zig-zagging	Spiral (Tendril)
Crimping, Zigzagging and Spirals are traditional techniques that were often used in antique quilling as borders. Crimping was also used to fill up the background of a design in antique quillworks. In contemporary quillworks, you can still see Spirals used for borders, but they sometimes appear as flower stalks and basket handles too.