5-Week Online Course
Dates: Sundays February 8, 15, 22, March 1, and March 8
Time: 2pm EST
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time.
Taught via Zoom by Miriam Morrissette
Admission $145 ($125 Discounted Price for Members, to become a member you can do so HERE)
We all carry within us the longing to memorialize—whether it’s ideas, people, or moments that have shaped our lives. Building a shrine answers this universal impulse: a gesture of devotion, honoring and making visible the ethereal nature of what matters most.
Paper quilling, also called paper filigree, is the art of rolling and shaping thin strips of paper into ornament. It originated with 17th-century French and Italian nuns and monks as a humble alternative to gold and silver filigree, adorning altars, reliquaries, and sacred frames. By the 18th century, it had spread to England, where it was taught alongside needlework and decorative arts, and often paired with Victorian hairwork and memento mori. Though less widely practiced today, it endures as an art that bridges the sacred and the everyday.
In this workshop with artist Miriam Morissette, quilling reveals itself as a rhythmic, meditative, and talismanic art. Each coiled strip of paper becomes an act of intention, inviting us to slow down, focus, and be present. This same contemplative quality drew artists to adorn venerable objects in centuries past—and continues to imbue the practice with meaning now.
Together, over five weeks, we will explore quilling techniques to create a shrine, memorial, or talismanic object of your choosing. Alongside demonstrations of both basic and advanced methods, we will draw inspiration from historical examples and experiment with recycled materials for bases and embellishments. By the end of the course, you will have gained practical skills in paper quilling and completed a personal, ornamented object that embodies what you hold most sacred
Class 1:
History of paper quilling
Tools
How to create a basic rolled coil with a slotted tool
Class 2:
Shrine-Making and Intention
Modern quilling artists
Choosing an object to embellish
Basic paper quilling techniques using a slotted tool.
How to make paper quilled flowers
Class 3:
How to embellish your object with different rolled shapes
Paper quilling techniques using a needle tool and motorized slotted tool
3D shapes using coils
Class 4:
Integrating Devotion into Practice
Techniques using a quilling comb
Techniques using a husking board
More 3D techniques
Class 5:
Rolling large coils
Final project presentations
Miriam Morrissette is a quilled paper and collage artist living in Reno, Nevada. She specializes in constructing devotional objects made out of recycled materials that are adorned with intricate hand quilled paper,collaged images, statuary, sparkles, and beads. Among other interests, she is deeply interested in cartomancy and is currently working on a collaged oracle deck entitled Conjuring Alice based loosely on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.
Miriam is self taught in the art of quilled paper. Crafting devotional objects and quilling paper is deeply rooted in her French - Canadian heritage.
5-Week Online Course
Dates: Sundays February 8, 15, 22, March 1, and March 8
Time: 2pm EST
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time.
Taught via Zoom by Miriam Morrissette
Admission $145 ($125 Discounted Price for Members, to become a member you can do so HERE)
We all carry within us the longing to memorialize—whether it’s ideas, people, or moments that have shaped our lives. Building a shrine answers this universal impulse: a gesture of devotion, honoring and making visible the ethereal nature of what matters most.
Paper quilling, also called paper filigree, is the art of rolling and shaping thin strips of paper into ornament. It originated with 17th-century French and Italian nuns and monks as a humble alternative to gold and silver filigree, adorning altars, reliquaries, and sacred frames. By the 18th century, it had spread to England, where it was taught alongside needlework and decorative arts, and often paired with Victorian hairwork and memento mori. Though less widely practiced today, it endures as an art that bridges the sacred and the everyday.
In this workshop with artist Miriam Morissette, quilling reveals itself as a rhythmic, meditative, and talismanic art. Each coiled strip of paper becomes an act of intention, inviting us to slow down, focus, and be present. This same contemplative quality drew artists to adorn venerable objects in centuries past—and continues to imbue the practice with meaning now.
Together, over five weeks, we will explore quilling techniques to create a shrine, memorial, or talismanic object of your choosing. Alongside demonstrations of both basic and advanced methods, we will draw inspiration from historical examples and experiment with recycled materials for bases and embellishments. By the end of the course, you will have gained practical skills in paper quilling and completed a personal, ornamented object that embodies what you hold most sacred
Class 1:
History of paper quilling
Tools
How to create a basic rolled coil with a slotted tool
Class 2:
Shrine-Making and Intention
Modern quilling artists
Choosing an object to embellish
Basic paper quilling techniques using a slotted tool.
How to make paper quilled flowers
Class 3:
How to embellish your object with different rolled shapes
Paper quilling techniques using a needle tool and motorized slotted tool
3D shapes using coils
Class 4:
Integrating Devotion into Practice
Techniques using a quilling comb
Techniques using a husking board
More 3D techniques
Class 5:
Rolling large coils
Final project presentations
Miriam Morrissette is a quilled paper and collage artist living in Reno, Nevada. She specializes in constructing devotional objects made out of recycled materials that are adorned with intricate hand quilled paper,collaged images, statuary, sparkles, and beads. Among other interests, she is deeply interested in cartomancy and is currently working on a collaged oracle deck entitled Conjuring Alice based loosely on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.
Miriam is self taught in the art of quilled paper. Crafting devotional objects and quilling paper is deeply rooted in her French - Canadian heritage.
