GALION — Colleen Roseberry always has made handcrafted ornaments for the family Christmas tree, but the intricate Santa’s and snowflakes made of thin strips of curled paper usually draw the most attention.
Roseberry is a quiller.
Hatpin in hand, she sits on the comfortable couch in her TV room and rolls colorful strips of pre-cut paper only one-eighth inch wide, then shapes and glues them together to create whimsical snowmen and other three-dimensional decorations dangling from the fresh-cut evergreen.
“I like making homemade crafts, and I like making them for gifts,” said the Windfall Road resident, whose full-time job is clerk of the Crawford County Municipal Court. “It does require patience though. They’re so tiny to work with.”
Roseberry first became interested in quilling, also known as paper filigree, back in 2010 when she started making a few snowflake ornaments to donate to the Country Holiday Bazaar at Galion’s St. Paul United Methodist Church, which she co-chairs.
Another church member, the late Jan Spraw, introduced her to the centuries-old artform and gave her a quilling box full of supplies, including plenty of paper, patterns and a book called “It’s Your Turn to Quill.” Roseberry’s aunt, Phyllis Sand of Bucyrus, added to her pattern collection.
Roseberry usually sets up a card table for supplies, then rolls the paper strips around the slotted tool into coils, which she pinches into various shapes and glues together. Although the technique is fun and simple, she said mastering the tension on each roll is crucial to the design of the finished piece.
Quilling actually dates to the Renaissance Period when Italian nuns and monks used a quill and paper trimmed from the gilded edges of books to create elaborate decorations for churches and religious artifacts. It soon spread to France, England and other parts of Europe.
By the 18th century, it became a fashionable pastime for English ladies who created quillwork to decorate fire screens, mirrors, boxes and even pieces of furniture. Although the method has never changed, the hatpin eventually replaced the quill point as the main quilling tool.
Roseberry, who also enjoys cross stitching and other crafts, has passed out countless quilled keepsakes – even miniature magnets – over the years, especially to her three children, family and friends. But she said there’s bound to be someone who, after opening the package, wonders what they’re getting.
“They say, ‘Wow, what is that?’ and I just explain that it’s paper and I made it,” the Bucyrus native said. “It’s definitely something unique and different. I’m amazed still at how you can even make those little things. They’re so tiny, and to think I can do it with my hands.”