History of the Art of Quilling

The art of quilling may well date back to ancient Egypt, but it was in the 16th and 17th centuries that came to greater prominence. At this time it was practised by French and Italian nuns who decorated pictures and boxes with quilled designs. In fact the name quilling derived from the fact that the nuns used goose quills to coil the paper. The art spread to England for decorating religious artefacts. The poorer churches would used gilded or silvered paper, often making indistinguishable from real gold and silver filigree work.

The art of quilling continued to be practised by ladies of the Stuart, Georgian and Regency periods, as well as North American settlers. It was an art practised by wealthy ladies of leisure to decorate a wide variety of household items.

Whilst quilling has fallen in and out of fashion over the centuries, it has enjoyed a recent resurgence in recent years with the development of modern papers and techniques.

Discover the amazing secrets of quilling compiled from the world's best quillers!

A Brief Quilling Guide

Within this short quilling guide I will look at what quilling involves and the tools that you need. Quilling is the art of making pictures from coiled thin strips of paper. The paper is made into tight or loose coils and manipulated into shapes. These shapes are assembled into designs and glued onto paper or card. The nature of quilling gives it a three-dimensional feel. In fact some quilling artists specialise in 3-dimensional self-supporting models. The range of quilling designs includes cards, picture frames, invitations and scrap-book pages. The only limitation is your imagination!

The equipment required for quilling is fairly basic. You will need your thin strips of paper of course. Although you can cut these yourself, it is not recommended as this leads to uneven edges. Specialised quilling paper comes in a variety of colors, widths and weights. You will need a something to coil your paper with - you can use something such as a needle or toothpick, but it is easier with a specialised quilling tool. You will need glue - any white glue that dries clear is fine.

A quilling fringer is also useful for making interesting patterned eges for such things as flowers.

Discover the amazing secrets of quilling compiled from the world's best quillers!