What is Quilling

Well its an economical craft that anyone, of any age, can take part in. You do not need vast amounts of equipment or materials to enjoy the craft of quilling. You don't even need much space! It could be described as the ideal craft.

Basically quilling is the art of rolling, folding, twisting or otherwise shaping narrow strips of paper and arranging them to create beautiful designs.

It isn't a new craft, in fact it has been around for hundreds of years. It was originally developed as a means of imitating gold and silver filigree work. Of course paper was much more affordable! In fact almost as soon as paper became easily available there has been reference to paper filigree.

The craft has long been associated with religious uses. In times past nuns were known to quill with gold-edged pages from their bibles, producing church artifacts and pictures. Moving closer to the present day, the Victorians loved to decorate household items such as tea caddies, boxes and even created plaques featuring their coat of arms.

There is a difference of opinion as to where quilling got its name. Some say it is because bird quills, or feathers, were used to roll the paper around, whereas others connect it to the native American art of using porcupine quills to produce decorative items.