History

Paper quilling (or paper filigree) dates back at least 500 years … to when Italian and French nuns and monks used it to decorate relics and holy pictures. 

The name quilling is probably derived from the feather quills around which the paper strips were wound. 

In the 18^th century paper filigree became popular in England and was taught in boarding schools as “a proper pastime for fashionable young ladies”. 

It made its way to the American colonies where it was used to decorate utilitarian objects -- many of which can still be seen at museums in New England. 

Around the late nineteenth century people lost interest in quilling but it is becoming popular once again.