Are you Quilling? Quilling? What is it??

Quilling is the art of rolling narrow strips of paper and shaping them to make beautiful, curling designs.

You can

• put together unusual greetings cards or gift tags

• design pictures or name signs that stand out,

• produce exciting jewellery or 3D models

• decorate boxes and photo frames.

Where does Quilling come from?

Quilling was popular in mediaeval Europe, practiced by nuns to decorate books and religious artefacts by imitating designs on elaborate ironwork. It was adopted by “genteel ladies of quality” in the 18th Century to occupy their leisure time but was later somewhat forgotten until its revival the 1920s as an alternative art form.

Quilling was, however, a skill taken by colonialists to America where it has remained a popular pastime.

Perhaps thanks to the Internet, quilling has found new pastures around the world, not least in Asia, and is now being taken up in Thailand as a new and vibrant craft.