Quilled Christmas

November 15, 2018
Remember sitting in class, aimlessly rolling paper around a pen or pencil? That's the foundation of quilling, a popular paper craft with origins in Renaissance-era Europe that has evolved into a wide breadth of fashionable projects?thanks, in part, to Bartkowski's cache of how-to's (Quilled Flowers, 2012?; Quilled Mandalas, 2018). She's thorough, covering basics in photographic and narrative detail, from the more unusual tools needed (like a crimper and curling coach) to the step-by-step tutorials on such shapes as the crescent and the triangle. Since this volume celebrates Christmas, readers will expect projects, yet the actual designs are rather startling, in a delightful way: a "can't believe it's paper" nutcracker; an intricate manger scene; a set of Christmas lights in jewelry; and the pi�ce de r�sistance, a Christmas-tree centerpiece. Categorized as home decor, ornaments and stocking stuffers, or greeting cards and gift packaging, each pattern features level of difficulty, shapes, techniques, dimensions, instructions, and photographs and diagrams. An even better incentive? Quick-to-make and inexpensive gifts just in time for the holidays.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)