Magnificent Large-Scale Quilling by Griffin Carrick

Longtime readers know how much I enjoy coming across unusual paper quilling... I can't wait to show you what Griffin Carrick has been making! Known for creating groundbreaking quilled macrame, she has come up with another original and very cool use of the art - paper lace, inspired by antique doilies.

Just last summer the quilled wall hangings Griffin makes placed her Etsy shop in the finals of the Etsy Design Awards. Now she is working on incredibly large - three feet wide - lace-like assemblages reminiscent of the finely crocheted doilies your great-grandmother might have made a century ago to protect chair backs and table tops.

 

Griffin rolls and shapes an enormous number of typically tiny quilled coils and joins them in patterns similar to those she found while studying lace-making via library books and visiting antique shops.

She says, "There was a time when it was in fashion to cover every surface of the home with lace doilies. I’m not suggesting we return to this but as I’m researching lace and inevitably doilies it’s hard not to appreciate the many hours of creative labor women put into making these decorative objects for their homes that are now a dime a dozen at antique stores."

I think of Griffin as the whirling dervish of quilling... she manages to find time to quill while tending to three young children at home. Sometimes she's able to involve the two oldest in her paper experiments... for example, she and her daughter make handmade paper from discarded mail. Griffin combines the rustic sheets with quilled coils in imaginative ways, like this abstract table lamp.

In early winter she had the foresight to invest in a paper shredder, knowing that creating the large-scale pieces she had in mind would take enough time without hand cutting each strip as she had been doing. Good timing, as she has been quilling throughout this time of home confinement, stealing moments here and there to make coils.

Griffin's Instagram feed is an absolute delight as the photo above attests. (Her youngest  is a climber as was mine at that age... oh boy, brings back memories!) The quilled mural over the couch is called Chaotic Splendor. Perhaps the repetitive nature of quilling is a calming influence while the energy of little ones swirls around her.

Griffin's second doily was a square design... you might be surprised to see how flexible it is. "I love the idea that my quillings can move and resemble textiles despite being made of paper. Unlike traditional quilling where strips of paper are glued to some type of substrate, I remove that backing and glue the quilled coils to each other to achieve this." A vinyl tablecloth with ribbons taped to it serves as a grid for balanced assembly.

Griffin is currently working on her third large doily (taller than her daughter!) that features one of the earliest lace-making techniques, netting, and has this to say about it: "I enjoy the process of quilling but even more I love the end result, so making this piece and making the same quilled shape thousands of times is taking ALL my patience to stick with it and not just change course to speed things up."

An added attraction to Griffin's work is that she has an eye for capturing it in beautiful ways.... not surprising considering she earned an Architecture degree and a Master of Arts in Interior Design. She couldn't resist trying out the round doily as a light shade. Now that is statement quilling!

Griffin's website is Griffin Carrick Design; her Etsy shop has the same name. Follow the progress of the quilled lace collection and see other new projects including mixed media collages and vessels on Instagram.

Find out more about Griffin's quilled macrame and the Design Awards Finalists.

UPDATE! On July 5th, Griffin posted this IG photo of the third completed piece in her quilled doily series. Sturdy and flexible, it is inspired by netted lace. And here it is on display in her dining room.

All Things Paper is an AWIN (Etsy) affiliate.