Quilling

A quill winding machine.

Warp threads were would onto a beam which was then put into the loom. Weft threads, on the other hand, were 'quilled', which meant to wind it on to a quill (a stick or bobbin) ready to be placed into the weaver's shuttle. 'Quillers' or quill-winders, often young boys, were employed by a master weaver or journeyman to 'quill' the yarn for them. William Smith (1815-1872), who founded the Smith's blanket company, started his working life at the age of eight as a quiller.

Getting the right shape to the wound quill was a skilled job, and it is recorded elsewhere in England that children who failed to do it properly were often punished by their masters [1].

Clare Sumner