Quilling is a paper craft, specifically the art of rolling thin strips of paper around a needle-like tool, then shaping those coils into intricate shapes and designs. The word quilling may have come from quillers using porcupine quills to wind the paper around. If you would like to see images of this beautiful art, look up "paper quilling" in Google or any other Search Engine. If you have never seen paper quilling before, prepare to be amazed at the intricate and beautiful designs you will see!
Quilling is thought to have begun in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, but may have been practiced long before. From the history and art that have been found, it is thought that the first quillers were nuns and monks. They used handmade paper or even cut off the edges of book pages and rolled the pieces of paper into ornate designs to embellish religious artifacts. Most quillwork now in museums date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but evidence seems to suggest that quilling has existed for 500 years.