SATURDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2011 WHAT IS QUILLING

"My hobbies are cooking and gardening, especially growing orchids. I love soccer, my husband and I support a British team called Chelsea, and I also enjoy tennis. We have 3 cats."-- Juliet Mills

"My hobbies are painting, crafts, and I like golfing."- Nancy Kerrigan

DO YOU HAVE A HOBBY? Hobbies boost your self esteem. If you have an addictive personality, your hobbies can get addictive. I have more than one hobby. Mine include needlepoint, beekeeping, growing orchids, knitting and card making. As part of my card making, I have incorporated paper filigree to the front of my cards. It takes patience, time and being meticulous. These are some of my hobby personality traits.

Quilling or paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is glued at the tip and the coil shape, and these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns similar to ironwork.

I am considered a quiller. I am an individual attracted to the art of quilling. Rick and I received a Valentine's Card by our friend, Carol. She is also a card maker who can be considered a quiller since all the hearts on the front of her card were quilled. Quilling can be combined with other techniques such as embroidery or painting. I will start to incorporate quilling into my needlework.

Historically quilling is not new. During the Renaissance, both the French and Italian nuns and monks used quilling to decorate religious items and book covers.

In the 18th century the 'ladies who lunch' (not Elaine Stritch) used quilling as an art form. These women were not 'ladies who lunch' but called 'gentle ladies of quality'. These ladies felt that quilling did not tax their mind like knitting or embroidery did. In 2007, Paula Bower wrote The History of Paper Filigree, which I encourage new quillers to read.

Today it is easy to quill. You will need a quilling set which includes the tools to curl your paper in addition to an assortment of quilling paper. You can find quilling paper in more than 250 colors and sizes. Depending on your art project you can pick acid-free, graduated or two tone quilling papers.

Try quilling...and have fun

Until tomorrow...