The gentle art of quilling highlighted at Musée acadien Oct. 1

Published on September 30th, 2009

Published on January 31st, 2010

By Carla Allen THE VANGUARD NovaNewsNow.com Sue Foreman has been quilling for close to eight years. She’s made beautiful pictures, jewelry, elaborate ornaments and even a chess set. Pick up one of her chess pieces and you’ll find it hard to believe it’s made from rolled paper.

According to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, “Ladies of leisure” in Europe practiced the art of quilling in the 18th century as it was thought to be one of the “few things ladies could do that was thought not too taxing for their minds or gentle dispositions.”

Foreman was attracted to the craft for its beauty and uniqueness. The tools required are also very simple: strips of paper, glue, a pattern and a quilling tool. “They call it quilling because they used to use bird feather quills to wrap the strips of paper around,” she said.

The art form involves the use of thin strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The width and length of the paper varies depending on the design made.

After the crafter decides what he or she wants to make, the pieces are rolled in the shapes required: either tight circles, loose circles, teardrops, or other, then assembled on the pattern which has been covered in wax paper. Each individual roll is glued to form a segment of the pattern then all are connected to complete the project. “It takes lots of patience, lots of time. It’s not quick,” said Foreman. “It’s all very fiddly. What I usually do is decide what it is I’m going to make, form all the pieces required for the finished product, then I assemble it,” she said.

During the quilling workshop on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 3:30 p.m. at the Musée acadien, Foreman will be showing how to make a Christmas decoration as part of the annual Craft Splash.

For a complete schedule of the Craft Splash, visit: http://yarmouthcraftsplash.blogspot.com