Quilled Necklace Pendant with a Twist

(In Other Words... When Things Don't Go as Planned)

 

For the past year (at least!) I've had a little pile of quilled marquises and tight coils on my desk that have been patiently waiting for me to assemble them into a necklace pendant. I don't know why I never made time to finish the project, other than the fact that I didn't need the pendant for any particular purpose. But recently, I did... a top I planned to wear to a holiday get together would look nice with silver-edge black paper. Thus, this new necklace made it into reality at long last.

 

 

But surprise, surprise! As I began gluing the coils into a circle to replicate a design I'd made a number of times before, they kept insisting on forming an oval. Well, okay... at least the design would be a bit different to show on the blog so I went with it. 

 

You'll find step-by-step images and instructions to make the original circular pendant in an earlier post. (For it, I used silver-edge ivory strips.) 

However, tampering with the design stretched the marquises at the bottom of the oval. I'm sure you can see the wonkiness, especially because close up photos of quilling have a way of compounding errors. Adding another marquise and a couple more domed tight coils will be all it takes to correct the problem in the future. But first, I'll need to replenish my strip supply... you see, I literally had all of two inches of leftover silver-edge black strips on hand. That really put the pressure on as I assembled the components!

 

 

While checking Amazon to purchase more of the beautiful Quilled Creations metallic edge quilling strips, I noticed reviews in which people voiced a couple of disappointments. One example, not enough strips in a package. There are thirty 17.5-inch strips... experienced quillers shouldn't have a problem making at least two pendants from one inexpensive package of strips.

 

For those who are brand new to quilling, I suggest you don't use your metallic edge strips to practice. Instead, cut up a sheet of printer paper and use those strips until you get used to rolling coils evenly and smoothly. (Here is a tiny paper shredder that will make short work of cutting a sheet into 1/8" [3mm] strips.) Once you have the technique down pat, then break out the specialty strips.

Another complaint I read is that the strips only have a metallic edge on one side. This is true. However, it isn't necessary that both sides have a shiny edge to make a necklace pendant. It will lay against your chest so the reverse side won't be seen. That said, it would be nice if there were strips with a metallic edge on both sides as this could come in handy for making dangle earrings... the earring backs could show depending on the wearer's hairstyle.

 

In the past, I also made the circular design using rose gold-edge quilling strips, which unfortunately are no longer available. If any quilling company owner happens to be reading this post, there's an idea for you - please resurrect the rose gold and copper edge strips as they make very pretty paper jewelry!

 

See many more of my quilled jewelry designs and answers to frequently asked quilling questions.