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Quilling History

Quilling or Paper Filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. It is believed the art has been practiced since ancient Egyptian and/or 4th Century Grecian times. Although they obviously would not have used paper in the 4th century, it is believed the Greeks used thin metal wires to decorate containers, especially boxes, and Egyptian tombs have been found containing similar wire shapes akin to modern quilling.

During the Renaissance, nuns and monks picked up the art to decorate book covers and religious items. They used gilded paper strips in order to imitate the original metal wires. The name quilling is said to be derived from the fact that the nuns and monks originally used feather quills as their tool to roll the paper. Later, the craft spread throughout Europe and to the Americas.

Quilling is seing a resurgence in popularity today. You will very often see it used to decorate wedding invitations, birth announcements, greeting cards and such.

The following information is quoted from:

"The art of paper quilling dates back three or four centuries to a time when nuns used the gold edges trimmed from Bible pages to create simple but beautiful works of artistry. The scraps of paper were wrapped around goose quills to create coiled shapes -- hence the name "quilling."

The following included by permission from the Author: Antonella DeFalco,

Tools and Supplies

The basic quilling shapes are made by taking strips of paper and rolling them into tight or loose coils. These coils are then shaped into various shapes. These shapes are grouped together to make any design or pattern that you can imagine.

There are generally two types of tools that are used, they are the Slotted tool and the Needle tool. It is not necessary to use mechanical tools, many quillers use their fingers, or finger rolling, in addition to hat pins, straight pins, toothpicks, needles, dowels, or any thin, stick-like object that can be used to wind the paper.

The paper is typically cut into strips of varying widths, these are 1/8" (.3 cm), 1/4" (.6 cm), 1/2" (1.3 cm), and 3/8" (1.6 cm). The 1/8" (.3 cm) width is most commonly used for quilling and referenced in many patterns. Papers today come in many colors and types. Although some people cut their own paper, there are a growing number of retailers that offer a variety of papers.

In general, a combination of tight winding, loosening, curling, creasing and gluing are used to form the designs.

Some of the additional tools that quillers use are:

Glue - any white glue that dries clear can be used; Wax paper or a clear sheet protector - used to protect your worksurface while you are working with the added benefit that the quilled pieces will come up easily to be attached to your project; Scissors - for cutting shapes; Ruler - for measuring your paper strips and to help with keeping your work straight and your shapes consistent sizes; Damp cloth or sponge to keep your fingers from getting sticky; Tweezers to pick up your quilled pieces and arrange them in your design;

Read more at Wikipedia.org