Crafting: Quilling

Heatwave!

It has been hot hot hot and continues to be. I am not a 90's girl, I am not really even an 80's girl. I love the 60's and 70's. Over that and I start to wilt. With temperatures reaching into the high 90's and with the heat index into the hundreds, I am so not going out there! Other than taking the dogs out to potty and going to work, I been hanging in the condo and crafting.

I recently found all my quilling supplies. Quilling, or paper filigree, is an old art form. Thin strips of papers are wrapped around a quill to make little  coils. Pinching those coils makes some basic shapes, which are then used to make designs. Often the designs are floral.

It is an art form that started back in Egypt.  During the Renaissance, French and Italian monks and nuns took the thin strips of paper left over from binding their books, and decorated books and other religious items. After that it was practiced mostly by ladies of leisure, as it was thought to not be too taxing of their minds. Okay really want to insert an eye roll here, but okay, ladies who didn't have much to do quilled.  

Early ladies magazines had patterns and directions for making many things including boxes, trays, ornaments, game boards and fire screens.Yeah, I know paper as a fire screen? I don't know but that is what I have read.

That  decorative box at the left is a very nice example of what one might do if they have a lot of time.

Quilling today is done a lot for card making and scrapbooking. Although it can be used for making jewelery, ornaments and wall decorations.
There are tons of pattern books out there and lots of kits too.  I am using these books:

The Book of Paper Quilling

Quilling Flowers

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Quilling for Scarpbooks and Cards

I am still making my creation and will be sure to post the finished product. I actually lost my slotting quilling tool last night and have to either use a needle or wait until the one I ordered arrives.