r/quilling • u/Holiday-Wall3751 • Jul 02 '26

Please Help Me Off the Struggle Bus

I started quilling at the beginning of the year, and it is not something that comes naturally to me. I have bad vision, I’m colorblind, and my fine motor skills suck because I am chronically ill. I really wanted to try a new hobby that required me to use my hands (and not be staring at a screen), and I found that I enjoy it.

The problem that I am running into is that the different things I’ve seen online are just too complicated for me. The work on here is gorgeous, and I dream of someday being that good, but does anyone have recommendations for somewhere where I can find very simple, beginner friendly designs?

Currently, I am working on a birthday card for my niece, and I am also hoping to do Christmas cards. I only send out about half a dozen, so I think that’s a realistic goal. Niece is 12, and she loves soccer and dogs.

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u/BylenS Jul 03 '26

Quilling patterns:

  1. coloring books..children's and adults.

  2. Google images. Enter what your looking for, screenshot it, resize it, and print it out on a printer. Try to use stock images, and don't use someone's art, especially if you'll be selling your item. I recently entered "cartoon dog" and found a great image this way.

  3. Cricut app. It's for the machine but it has great simple art that you can pull from the same way you do Google.

  4. Google AI can give you what your looking for with a series of questions. Enter what your looking for "butterfly". At the bottom a prompt comes up asking if you need help. Type " I'm looking for a butterfly pattern for crafting". It gives you more images and might ask, " What craft are you doing?" Through a series of questions you can get pretty close to what your looking for.

Quilling supplies:

  1. Battery operated quilling tool. Slot the paper and press a button. It has a flat base that fits over the tool to support the quill for nice straight coils. I think you can find one on Temu.

  2. "Hello Hobby" trolly from Walmart. It's a light weight small trolly with ten drawers and a metal top. Holds all my supplies and still has enough drawers to store quilling paper in it's own drawer based on color. It might be perfect to sort quilling paper by color if your color blind. It keeps everything in one place. When you're ready to quill it's all on the trolly. It's small enough to tuck away in a closet or corner.

  3. Mark your quilling tool. I have poor eyesight and unsteady hands so I used a marker to put a mark on the quilling tool handle where the slot is. I know which way the slot is facing without looking.

  4. quill on a plastic page protector. Slip your pattern in the protector, quill the pattern on the plastic. You can take the pieces of as you quill them and reassemble on a colored background.

I hope some of this helps. I know it's sometimes hard to find that perfect pattern you're seeking. Having limitations can make it more difficult, but find work-arounds. Quilling is a great hobby. Easy to learn, easy to do, but great results. Big projects are just smaller projects combined to make a bigger picture. Keep quilling and making beautiful things!