Quilling

Explore beautiful handcrafted Paper Quilling designs to make at home.

Explore beautiful handcrafted Paper Quilling designs to make at home.

Quilling, the coiling and shaping of narrow paper strips to create a design, has been around for years — hundreds, in fact. During the Renaissance, nuns and monks would roll gold-gilded paper remnants trimmed during the bookmaking process, and use them to decorate religious objects as an alternative to costly gold filigree.

Quilling later became a pastime of 18th and 19th century young ladies in England, who would decorate tea caddies and pieces of furniture with paper filigree. The practice crossed the Atlantic with colonists, who added quilling to candle sconces and trays as home decorations.

The short list of necessities includes strips of lightweight paper, glue, and a tool with which to roll the paper — that’s it! Even better, there’s probably no need to shop for supplies before you try quilling, as a bamboo skewer, round toothpick, or even a cake tester from your kitchen drawer can serve as a substitute tool. Cut your own practice strips from a sheet of ordinary computer paper, using a paper cutter.

Many arts and crafts stores sell basic tools and packages of multicolor paper strips. Beautiful papers and other quilling supplies are available from online suppliers. Oh, and lastly, one requirement that’s not available for purchase, but will also be needed, is a fair amount of patience. With a little practice, however, I can almost predict you’ll find quilling to be creatively satisfying and fun.

Paper Quilling Art:Get creative with paper & learn the Art of Quilling to make beautiful objects.Paper quilling, also know as paper filigree, may look complicated, but the basics are actually not hard to master.