Quilling or Paper Filigree What is it?

A search for quilling sculpture will produce 3-D free standing pieces

Why is it called quilling? Quilling is an art form using paper strips curled into shapes to form images or objects. Why is it called quilling? Maybe because people used a quill pen as a tool for rolling the paper. Maybe not, but that is a good story. The art was carried to the American colonies in the 18th century. Possibly the colonial artists used a porcupine quill for the needle tool.

Why are we doing this? The activity is good for brain development. We can understand something about the past. We can learn about different cultures. We can relate this to our present and our culture. We get to make something interesting!

Brain development? Researchers have found that repetitive gross motor activities coupled with fine motor activities (such as rolling scrolls for quilling) are crucial to myelination of nerve pathways in the brain.

Anatomical Quilling - Sarah Yakawonis

History: early examples of paper quilling date to at least the 1500's (Renaissance) and written reference to the craft appear as early as the 1300's. (Medieval) Italian monks and nuns used quilling to decorate covers 0f books or reliquaries.

The art form may have been created in imitation of filigree metalworks

I used to wonder why my art history text said the Tara Brooch was filigree work.

Wikipedia has a photo of it from the back.

The Tara Brooch was created in about 700 AD and is recognized as the culminating masterpiece of 7th century Irish gold smithing. It was rediscovered in the 1850's, found by a peasant family who sold it to a jewelry dealer, who named it the Tara Brooch for marketing reasons, Celtic revival jewelry was trendy at the time. Tara Brooch has become a generic term for Celtic revival jewelry My quilling version of a Tara Brooch

ROLLED PAPER AND SATINWOOD DISPLAY CABINET CIRCA 1780

Jane Austen wrote about quilling in 1811. In Sense and Sensibility, Elanor Dashwood helps Lucy Steele by rolling her papers.

Basket and close-up of date. This workbasket is dated 1789. "Lucy directly drew her work-table near her, and reseated herself with an alacrity and cheerfulness, which seemed to infer, that she could taste no greater delight than in making a filigree basket for a spoilt child." Basket and close-up of date. This workbasket is dated 1789.

We use the paper shredder to prepare the quilling strips. This makes strips about twice the size of traditional quilling paper.

Quilling tools can be purchased, but also easily and cheaply made.

These are 5th grade artworks from the first students I taught to quilll These images are from the first year I did this project. I asked students to start by making a border.

Here is my principal admiring the work in the district YAM show. We put them in the district art show. Here is my principal admiring the work. Here is my principal admiring the work in the district YAM show.

Art teacher: Stacy Colston Kindergarten Art teacher: Stacy Colston Austin ISD YAM art show 2011

Paper Strip Sculptures My kinder project Hats: Paper Strip Sculptures

I always have students who take the project 3-D, so that is where I am going next.

Extreme Quilling

Conference workshop packet contents Handout Glue stick Practice papers Toothpick Needle tool Conference workshop packet contents