Quilling (paper filigree)

This was something we picked up recently here at the homestead. I had been looking at Martha Stewart scrap booking supplies of all things when I got interested in Quilling. I had no idea what it was called so I started a Google search for rolled papers...well not the results I was looking for to say the least. But eventually I stumbled unto it. Quilling! AND it was a period appropriate activity! I ran around telling everyone how excited I was to try it and much to my astonishment people looked at me like I had a second head. Turns out Quilling sounds a lot like Quilting. No one knew how I could possibly be excited about making a rolled paper blanket...how weird!

  Eventually I won them over with the pictures and stories I will share below:

I always thought it was odd that Elinor Dashwood would be rolling papers for a basket. I thought “hey maybe they sell them to smokers” alas no so. Elinor was actually Quilling! Turns out the art form was from much earlier then I had originally expected. A reference to a quilled basket I found dates to 1663. Of course the beginnings of Quilling were much more modest then the images shown below. The earliest Quilling references I can find were monks using leftover bits of paper to make religious pictures. These were very ornate and usually gold coloured.

Ladies would spend hours upon hours pasting paper filigree onto furniture, tea caddies and screens. It is interesting to note it was not a uniform size stick in which the pieces were rolled around. When looking closely you can see the centre circle varies in size.

It was not a poor mans art. Princess’s were know to work on it and kings were known to have pieces with it. Here is an example of some of the modern quilling work being done today:

Our experience is minimal but we are working on it. There are tons of patterns and designs as well as tutorials out there for people to learn. It is such a cheap and cheerful craft. I would definitely encourage you to try it! Let us know if a card making/ornament making class next season would be of interest to you! We would love to tell you more about the rich history of Quilling.