What is Quilling?

Quilling is a very, very old paper art, believed to be hundreds of years old.  It is a distant cousin to origami in that it uses paper – origami uses sheets of paper while quilling uses strips of paper – that are used to make various types of 3D designs.  The name quilling is thought to be derived from the fact quills (the hard part of a feather) were originally used to twirl the paper strips.  During the Renaissance , monks and nuns would roll/twirl gold gilded paper, trimmed from various book, to create religious ornamentation.  

Quilling continued to be practiced throughout Europe as an acceptable pastime for affluent ladies to practice. 

You also sometimes see quilling called “paper filigree” which of course refers to the delicate and often ornate nature of items made with quilling. 

To get started quilling, all you really need is a toothpick and a strip of some kind of paper.  However, there have been a variety of tools that have made the process a bit more user friendly and quicker including the slotted tool, quilling comb, and the husker board.