Quilling (paper
filigree) is the art of rolling and shaping narrow strips of paper,
and arranging them into designs. It dates back to 15th century France
and Italy where nuns and monks carefully trimmed the gilt edges of pages
in books, rolled the strips around bird quills, then decorated religious
relics. As with other art forms during the Renaissance, quilling spread
throughout much of Europe and became a pastime of upper class ladies,
who extended the decorating of objects to include boxes, baskets, cabinets
and screens. With the invention of the paper-making machine in England
in the early 19th century and the resulting wider availability of paper,
quilling became a leisure time activity for women in Europe and America;
they still hand cut the paper into strips and used bird quills to roll
the papers. Its popularity declined around the turn of that century,
but with improved tools, papers, colors, and precision paper-cutting
machines, quilling was revived as a hobby in the mid 20th century and
continues to have it's enthusiasts today in the 21st century.