Read all about it!!

Well, what a wonderful weekend we've just had at the Quilling Guild's annual celebration of all things quilling here in the UK!

On Saturday, we had our Annual General Meeting, coupled with competitions, demonstrations, the chance to buy all manner of quilling supplies ... AND the most breathtaking displays of paper filigree work. Then, on Sunday, we had our equally fabulous Shared Ideas Day at which quillers from across the world gathered to socialise and learn techniques from one another. My senses are still on overload, and I would not have wanted to miss a single minute!

I'll be posting lots more detail about what went on over the course of the next few days, but I want to start with the pictures that I promised of my winning entry in the Quilling In A Frame competition category.  (I was delighted to be awarded Third Place out of a total of 14 entries - the biggest group by far - and what fantastic entries they were!)  Unfortunately, I couldn't get wi-fi in the hotel where we were staying, and if I had tried to upload the pictures over my painfully-slow Vodafone connection, I would still be waiting for it to finish now!  So here goes ...

I actually completed this picture last winter, after several weeks of work. It was originally inspired by the design of a beautiful ceramic tile which hangs in our downstairs bathroom, and I saw it as an opportunity to try out just about every type of quilling shape I know!

So I utilised pinched eccentric coils (the lemons); vortex coils (many of the bricks); open filigree work with solid coils (the fruit trees, steps and balcony); marquises, teardrops and eyes (everywhere!); wheatear huskings (the plant and terracotta pot); 'packets' of flat crimped strips (the distant ocean); beehive coils to fill in the windows and door; a mixture of contrasting marquises and beehive coils (the waves tumbling on to the beach) ... in fact, just about every technique I could think of!

To give the picture depth, I added the balcony, starfish and seaweed as separate layers, and had the whole thing framed in a triple mount (not shown) for added impact.

I worked on a tracing of the shapes delineating the various sections of the picture, which was covered in cling-film and held in place by pins on a mounting board. In order to keep the picture within straight edges while I was quilling, I purchased the inner mount first and worked within it, using a reverse bevel cut to hold the quilling in. I lifted the entire quilling from the board in a single piece (an anxious moment, believe me!!), before gluing it to a neutral-coloured backing paper (pale blue) and taking it to be framed.

I feel very proud of this picture, because it is definitely the most ambitious piece of artwork I have ever created, and I was delighted by the admiring comments that I received from so many Guild members on Saturday. I'd like to thank ALL of them for giving me their vote!