Quilled Cardinal Directions

The paper craft quilling turns thin strips of colored paper into works of art. Strips of paper are coiled using a quilling tool. The coils are glued closed and pinched to form different shapes like a teardrop or a square or left open as scrolls. The small shapes are glued together to create either a single or multi-layered picture. Although quilling is an old-fashioned art, supplies are available at crafts stores and online.

Things You'll Need

• Blank white paper
• Pencil
• Gallon-sized plastic storage bag
• 12-inch by 12-inch piece of corrugated cardboard or cork board
• Pins
• Ruler
• 1/8-inch wide quilling paper in red, black, brown, reddish brown and dark orange
• Scissors
• Quilling tool
• Small paintbrush
• White glue
• Thin spatula
• Colored paper
• Picture frame

Instructions

1. Sketch the picture of a cardinal on a piece of paper. Coloring book pictures also work well as a template for quilling. Make the picture of the bird about 6 inches in size.

2. Slide the picture inside the gallon-sized plastic storage bag and secure to the cardboard or cork board with a pin in each corner.

3. Cut one 4-inch piece of black quilling paper to make the eye. Slide the paper into the slot of the quilling tool and move the tool all of the way to one end. Press the paper around the tool with your thumb. Continue rolling the paper tightly, keeping the edges as even as possible. Grasp the roll with your fingers and slip the quilling tool out of the center. Apply a small amount of white glue at the strip’s end with a small paintbrush. Press the end in place until the glue adheres.

4. Push the center of the roll outward carefully to make a shallow cone. This shape is called a grape roll. Brushing glue on the concave, inside, surface will help the roll keep its shape. Let dry completely.

5. Wrap a 1-inch piece of red quilling paper around the base of the grape roll, attaching it with a light brushing of glue. Let dry completely. If the cardinal in your picture is facing forward with both eyes are visible, repeat Steps 2 through 4 to create a second eye.

6. Cut five 2-inch pieces of black quilling paper for the face. Slide the paper into the slot of the quilling tool and move the tool all of the way to one end. Press the paper around the tool with your thumb. Continue rolling the paper tightly, keeping the edges as even as possible. Remove the circle from the tool and place it on a flat surface. Let the coil expand slightly into a loose circle. Apply a small amount of white glue at the strip’s end with a small paintbrush. Press the end in place until the glue adheres. Pinch opposite sides of the circle together to make a marquise. Repeat making a marquise with the remaining four 2-inch pieces of black quilling paper. The face, head, body and wing will be filled in with different colors of this same shape.

7. Position the black grape roll convex-side up over the eye in your template. Fill in the face around the eye with the black marquise pieces according to your template. The pieces must touch each other. Make additional black marquises if needed to fill the space.

8. Brush the edges of each marquise and the eye grape roll lightly with glue. Carefully, replace each piece over the template, adhering it to the pieces surrounding it. Use pins to keep the pieces in place. Let dry completely.

9. Cut one 3-inch piece of dark orange quilling paper for the beak. Slide the paper into the slot of the quilling tool and move the tool all of the way to one end. Press the paper around the tool with your thumb. Continue rolling the paper tightly, keeping the edges as even as possible. Remove the circle from the tool and place it on a flat surface. Let the coil expand slightly into a loose circle. Apply a small amount of white glue at the strip’s end with a small paintbrush. Press the end in place until the glue adheres. Pinch a point on one side and make a sharp indention on the other side to make a rolled heart.

10. Position the beak on the template and glue into place.

11. Make red marquises using 3-inch pieces of red quilling paper to fill in the body and head. Glue the marquise pieces into place as you fill in the template. Continue making marquises until the entire head, body and wing areas are filled in, but not the tail. Use pins periodically to hold the marquises in place while the glue dries.

12. Cut five 9 ½-inch pieces of red quilling paper for the tail feathers. Mark each piece at 1 ¼ inches, 3 1/4 inches and at 6 inches. The sections between the marks will measure 1 ¼ inches, 2 inches, 2 ¾ inches and 3 ½ inches. Working with one piece at a time, loop the paper over until the end of the paper meets the mark at 1 1/4 inches. Glue in place. Folding the paper back, loop over the first loop, matching the 3 ¼-inch mark with the end of the loop. Glue in place. Loop the paper back over the loops, matching the 6-inch mark with the end of the loop. Glue in place. Loop the paper back over the loops, matching the end of the paper with the end of the loop. Glue in place. Pinch the loops to make a feather. Repeat with the remaining four 9 ½-inch pieces of red quilling paper. Let dry completely.

13. Attach three of the tail feathers to the base of the body with glue according to your template. Let dry completely.

14. Remove the quilled cardinal from the plastic-covered template. Use a thin spatula if dripping glue stuck to the plastic. Brush a light coat of glue on the underside of the bird, covering completely. Position and adhere this layer to your background paper.

15. Make reddish brown marquises using 3-inch pieces of reddish brown quilling paper to fill in the wing. Glue the marquise pieces into place as you fill in only the wing on the template. Continue making marquises until the entire wing area is filled in. Use pins periodically to hold the marquises in place while the glue dries. Let dry completely.

16. Remove the wing from the plastic-covered template. Use a thin spatula if dripping glue stuck the project stuck to the plastic. Brush a light coat of glue on the underside of the wing, covering completely. Position and adhere the wing to the first layer of the bird according to your template.

17. Attach the remaining two tail feathers to the base of the wing and over the first layer of feather using glue. Let dry completely.

18. Matte, frame and display your quilled cardinal as desired.

References

• "The Book of Paper Quilling"; Malinda Johnston; 1995
• "Thrilling Quilling"; Elizabeth Moad; 2008