paper filigree is the art of rolling
and shaping strips of paper into
ornamental designs.  Quilling
starts with rolling, twisting, or
curling a strip of paper into a
coil and then manipulating the
coil into shapes that are then
glued together. While the paper
strips can be manipulated by
hand, they are commonly shaped using various
needle-like tools (historically, quills) to achieve
the desired effect.

the Renaissance, where French
and Italian nuns and monks used
quilling to decorate book covers
and religious items.  In the 18th
century, quilling became popular
in Europe where it was practiced
as an artform by women as the
activity was  thought not too

strenuous to upset a woman’s “delicate
disposition.”  It soon spread to Colonial America
and, in recent years, has seen a resurgence among
the crafting community.