Quilling
From Free net encyclopedia
Template:Cleanup-date Quilling is the art of creating decorative designs from thin strips of curled paper. Using simple tools, long strips of paper are tightly wound and released to form complex shapes. Also called paper filigree, it is believed the art has been practiced since ancient Egyptian and/or 4th Century Grecian times.
Although they obviously would not have used paper in the 4th century, it is believed the Greeks used thin metal wires to decorate containers, especially boxes, and Egyptian tombs have been found containing similar wire shapes akin to modern quilling.
During the Renaissance, nuns and monks picked up the art to decorate book covers and the like, only they used gilded paper strips in order to imitate the original metal wires. Later on, the craft spread throughout Europe and the Americas.
The paper is typically cut into strips with widths of approximately 5mm (1/8"). Other common sizes include 1/4" width and 1/16" width. A combination of tight winding, loosening, curling, creasing and gluing are used to form the designs. Although the nuns and monks originally used feather quills (hence the name), in modern times people tend to use toothpicks, needles, dowels, or any other stick-like apparatus to wind the paper. There are also slotted tools intended for just such a purpose. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The following information is quoted from: http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/pa_techniques/article/0,2025,DIY_14159_2270974,00.html
"The art of paper quilling dates back three or four centuries to a time when nuns used the gold edges trimmed from Bible pages to create simple but beautiful works of artistry. The scraps of paper were wrapped around goose quills to create coiled shapes -- hence the name "quilling." __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To Quill:
-Obtain a toothpick or other small stick-like object.
-Run some paper through a paper shredder. (This generally gives paper with widths of approximately 1/4".
-Wrap the paper tightly around the toothpick until you come to the end of the strip.
-This is called a "tight circle."
-You can either keep this shape as it is by gluing the paper to itself, or you can let go of the shape and it will loosen into a "loose circle." This loose circle can then be shaped into various things through pinching.
-If you pinch one side of the circle into a point, you can make a teardrop shape. These are especially useful in quantity to make flower petals. The tight circles make excellent flower centers.
-If you pinch the opposite side of your teardrop, you have a marquis.
-Keep experimenting. You can make anything from stars and moons, to squares and fish.
-Once you are done creating each individual shape, lay them on a board or piece of paper to arrange.
-Finally, glue in a mosaic-like fashion, making a picture out of several smaller shapes.