- 1). Choose a long, curved feather to provide a comfortable grip while writing. If you are using feathers found on trails, make sure you select a feather at least 12 inches in length. A thick shaft or spine on the feather also ensures a comfortable hold. Ostrich feather shafts generally have a full and loose shape while turkey feathers shafts are long and rigid.
- 2). Trim the feather with sharp cutting scissors or pluck out with tweezers at the base of the shaft to form a shallow oval hollow. This enables you to have a better grip on the shaft while writing.
- 3). Pluck out any leftover feather ends in the shaft with tweezers one at a time. Hold the shaft firmly as you clean and pluck out any unwanted materials. This is especially important if you are using feathers gathered from the outdoors. Retail shops sell cleaned and shaped feathers.
- 4). Place the feather flat on the worktable. Draw a dotted line in the desired shape directly onto the feather shaft with a marker.
- 5). Cut and snip along the dotted line carefully until the pattern is complete. Continue to trim excess feathers accordingly until you are satisfied with the quill's shape.
- 6). Position the feather flat on the work table. Draw an angled dotted line less than 45 degrees with a marker at the tip of the quill. Keep in mind the shape of the tip dictates the ink's thickness when it's applied to paper.
- 7). Cut along the dotted line with a sharp craft knife on a cutting board. Clean out any unwanted materials from the angled tip with the tweezers.
- 8). Dip the quill pen into non-permanent ink. Write a few writing samples on scrap paper prior to writing directly onto any project paper or scrapbooking pages.
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