Like all rookie quillers, I have been struggling to make standard size quills which unwind well and despite the sizing guide, I usually fail miserably!! So I came up with my invention and the above are the results using cut magazine strips!! Wow!! I'm thrilled and it is so simple a child could have thought of it!!
How To Make It
Just cut 2, 1' (outer tube)and 2' (inner tube) strips of card board or thick paper the length, 50% longer than the diameter of your desired coil.
The outer tube's diameter will depend on quilling strip length, so take the different lengths you usually use and make a good coil with each length. The outer cylinder's diameter should be this size.
The inner cylinder should be slightly longer ,and fit snugly inside the outer tube and around 2 inches in height max.
Roll the cardboard strip to the diameter desired and cello tape it around. Do the same for the inner tube but cover the top of the inner tube with cello tape as well. You should be able to slide it smoothly inside the outer cylinder by pushing with the ball of your finger. That's It. Your perfect coils tool.
Insert the capped, longer cylinder into the shorter cylinder and pull it 6mm below the rim. Now wind your strip on a quilling tool or toothpick and twist 1/4 turn anticlockwise and remove from the tool. Flatten the top ( if not you coil will string out like a cone) and drop it into the cylinder so that it sits on the capped inner cylinder as shown and unwinds to the rim. If it does not unwind, just place the ball of your thumb so that it gently touches the top of the coil and twist the tool anti-clockwise to get it to unwind. You can remove the coil by holding the outer cylinder between your thumb and forefinger and the pushing the inner cylinder up with your other hand till the coil is pushed into your fingers. Then glue it!!
Always think of the science behind the art and you can figure things out!! That is my motto.
So why do the last 2-3 layers unwind more?? Simple, the inner coils are held in shape longer as you wind and get more tension. So if you want the outer part to uncoil less, just hold the coil gently after you have finished winding for a count of 3 or more depending on the paper you use, after the whole strip is wound. .
Thank You Pooja, I will have a look and make my comments. I made the tube with bristol board. Just roll it to a tube.
ReplyDeleteHow innovative and cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sonia. Imlove your blog and all your tutorials are great.
ReplyDeleteHi Chris. Thanks for the tip. Do you have photos of the tubes from the side and for the steps you do? I tried to make the tubes but got a little confused --- do you make them that long so that you can make many coils at once and leave them in longer than with the sizing guids? I just don't seem to get the advantage over the sizing guids (apart from the fact you can make any size you want).. but I'm not always very good at understanding methods, so I think I'm just missing something here. I'm really sure this is a great tool and would like to understand it better!! Thank you again!
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