What is Quilling? (Hint: It’s a TWIST On Paper!)

What is quilling? Glad you asked! As an ordinary observer you might come to the conclusion that it’s a type of embroidery – I did too, once; as the word almost looked like “quilt-ing” And it doesn’t involve hedgehogs or porcupines either.  Sorry, had to have a little fun there! Nope, not even close 😁 Although the story behind the origins of quilling does kind of involve , well, birds (Keep reading…)

Quilling is a paper artform! And an amazing one at that, once you see what kind of possibilities are out there.

So if you want to step up your paper craft game a little, and learn a new time-honored tradition, I think you will enjoy what is in store for you right here! And if you like what you read, you may want to check out my latest guide so you can apply what you’ve learned. Sound good?

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Paper quilling is an inexpensive hobby too – besides a special type of needle you only need a few other instruments for success – and some of them you may already have on hand right there in your household.

So What Is Quilling In a Nutshell?

Paper quilling is a  paper craft artform that involves  making coiled designs using thin strips of paper. It can be simple or intricate, depending on the taste or skill of the crafter in question.

Quilling has a good deal of antiquity behind it, dating back to the Renaissance era in Europe in which nuns and monks fashioned rolled paper decor from pages of the Bible. It was an inexpensive alternative to gold filigree and  picked up some popularity with well-heeled women (read: affluent) during the 18th and 19th centuries as a prized technique.

The name for the craft itself came from the tool of choice at the time – the feathers of geese that people used back in olden times to make quill pens for writing. Yep, strips of paper wrapped around goose quills to create unique paper art, got known as “quilling”!

Thrilling Quilling: The Ultimate Quiller’s SourcebookQuilling Basics: Discover the Magic World of Surprises

Fast forward to our time, the technique remains the same – but the goose quill has been replaced by a more modern tool resembling an embroidery needle (more on that in a little bit.)

Paper Quilling 101

The main tool, known as a quilling needle, is used to wind the paper strips around into a coil. Sometimes you can improvise and use a ordinary object as a tool. Usually something narrow will work. A knitting needle or a pencil for example, can work in a pinch, although may produce looser coils.

Once the strip has been wound all the way to the end, now you simply remove it from the needle – use your first finger and thumb; don’t grab the coil by the base as it can flare out in a funnel shape.

Use a dab of glue to finish off the seam. Ta da – you’ve created a quilled paper coil!

It can be added to a backdrop as is, or you can manipulate it into a unique shape like a heart, triangle, teardrop, etc., this time using the larger handle of the tool, and your fingers. Rolling the paper strips is just the beginning….The coils that are created can be made into various shapes, just by a little pinching.

Also, some coiled shapes can be left open-ended and not glued together. You can use these to accentuate the coils for a design. We can call those “scrolls” instead of “coils.”

Here is a chart I made to showcase most of the basic quilling shapes. I hope you can read my writing OK; I’ve always been a staunch cursive writer. I’ve been practicing with some strips cut out from magazines (which you can do, too, if you’re low on paper – magazine paper is just the right weight for this) and if you can get the hang of these main shapes, you’ll be well on your way!

What About Quilling Tools?

The tools used in paper quilling are rather simple and straightforward. Some of the major tools used in the process are a slotted quilling tool, needle, glue, tweezers and pins. With a combination of these simple tools, long strips of paper are wound tightly and released, and hereby forming complicated and complex shapes.

To get more precision and accuracy, you want to use a good combination of tools, and experiment with them as much as you can,

Don’t forget to check out my free quilling guide, see bottom of this post to learn how.

Is Quilling A Real Artform?

You betcha! Once you master the basics of quilling, the possibilities will be endless! You can use your quilled paper designs to enhance another craft in the making, or you can make stand-alone items such as wall hangings, jewelry pieces like earrings, Christmas tree ornaments, greeting card adornments, or paper sculptures.

Is it a form of sculpture?

Well it kind of is,  and it kind of isn’t. I know, that’s not a great answer! After all, this is a blog about sculpting, and while topics about clay make up the majority of my articles, there are some sculptural artforms that can involve a combination of other materials, too, that I think are highly deserving of discussion, and quilling is one of them, for sure.

Since it can be transformed into 2D  (and perhaps even 3D, if you master it long enough!) work, it certainly meets the qualifiers. Here are some real life examples…A tree ornament. Notice the use of round, teardrop and oval shaped coils all were used to make this lovely decoration?

And here is a tissue box I found. Isn’t this adorable? Quilled flowers used to adorn the top of it. Too cute!

With hard work and perseverance, you can come up with  some amazingly intricate designs.  Check out this masterpiece below to get an idea of what amazing work can be accomplished! I loves that salmon pink-peach color too -gorgeous👍.

What is Quilling? Only the Most Awesome Paper Craft Ever!

So do you think you would enjoy getting into paper quilling? Great! It is such a cool artform that can stand on its own, or be used to accentuate other paper craft projects. If you’re ready to go for it, I suggest you take a look at one of my newest eguides, Just Quill Out – it has all the info in this post plus goes deeper indepth about the techniques for mastery.

Plus I have also included a collection of patterns for you to download and try your hand at, complete with guidelines on all of them and then copies of each without the guidelines, for when you’re ready to “take off the training wheels” lol. I think you will enjoy it!

That’s all for now, happy quilling everyone!😁

Image credit: Creative Commons Photo Attribution: K4Craft Creations

Quilling Xu

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