You know you're a quiller if....

So, one of the ladies on my quillers yahoo group posted that she needed an intervention because all she wants to do is quill. It got me thinking that we should have a "you know you're a quiller if" list going. If you quill and you'd like to contribute to this growing list, send me an email with "you know you're a quiller" in the subject line and I'll add to the list with your name as a contributor.

Here it is so far:

You know you’re a quiller if....

....you find bits of paper in your bed (submitted by Sam)

...you find bits of paper stuck to your clothing or on the floor

...you won the lottery and all you would buy would be quilling supplies (submitted by Charli)

...you have to sweep under your table several times a day and not because of food crumbs

...your bagless vacuum cleaner’s dirt container looks like it has multi-colored confetti in it from cleaning up the quilling scraps.

...you save your scraps that have dropped on the floor for future quilling projects

...if you mess up on a project and haven't mounted it yet, you straighten the quilling paper from the no-go project out again to reuse in the future.

...every nook and cranny of your house has quilling supplies (submitted by Charli)

...you take pictures of appliques on your baby's clothing so you can convert them into quilling patterns (yes, sad, but true - I've done it - and recently, too)

...you had to buy an extra storage cabinet just for quilling supplies

...you have an addiction to everything paper crafting

...you look at other paper crafts and think, “How can I incorporate quilling into that?”

...you buy rubber stampings JUST to highlight your quilled embellishments on cards.

... your dog is looking for food under the table and comes up with "paper" scraps (submitted by Jody)

....you keep quilling day [Monday in Stroudsburg] open from 11 till 3 with
NOTHING else scheduled - lunch dates, doctor appointments, nada, nyet, nix -
except for an emergency!! (submitted by Ev Crane)

...you can’t help but look at the world without thinking, “I wonder if I could make a quilling pattern out of that.”

...you are so concentrated on your quilling project that you don’t notice that a tornado has gone through your house (in my case, a tornado disguised as a three year old child)

...you dream about quilling and quilled designs

...you can quill in your sleep (submitted by Charli)

...you have a quilling project “to do” list that’s at least two pages long – typed

...you sacrifice sleep to stay up into the wee hours of the morning to quill

...your online quilling community is almost as close to your heart as your own family

...your little son quills a cute flower for his teacher (submitted by Ariana)

...you have an addition built onto your home to house all your supplies (submitted by Molly)

...when you view real live objects, but only see patterns created by shaped coils (submitted by Charli)

....all you want to do is talk about quilling and have an urge to convert everyone to become quillers (submitted by Charli)

Nativity No. 3

Okay, so three down, three to go - at least - I want six designs total, but I might make more than one of some of the designs.

Here's the newest. I know, Mary's nose looks like a beak and Joseph's is barely recognizable. I'm working on it. I had a hard time manipulating the paper just how I wanted it. If I make this design again, I might not make noses on Mary and Joseph. Don't you just love the little lambs, though? They are my favorite of the piece. They have cute little lazy looks. I love them!


Since I'm halfway to my goal, I'm going to take a breather from nativities for a little while and do some "easy" quilling (I know it's in the eye of the beholder) in preparation for teaching down in Franklin. I received the opportunity to teach both at the parks department and at Franklin College. I am very excited. I won't start teaching until January at the earliest. I'm excited. It's a way to get my name out there and to earn a little bit of money - I'm not going to get rich off of teaching, but it will be great to share this wonderful art form.

Nativity No. 2

This is one that I actually created on my own. My first design. Aahh, I can bask in my own self-induced limelight for about 15 seconds and then I need to move on. But I digress...

I love this one because it fits perfectly in the oval opening of the mat. It's also great because it only took me about 3 hours to complete.

And, yes, Janet is right (see comment), there isn't any stopping me now. Creating designs is almost as much fun as quilling them and seeing them completed.

My very first quilled wedding gift

I made this about three years ago, but had forgotten that I had a picture of it. I thought all the pics from my old digital camera were lost forever. I just received a new camera for my anniversary (thanks Mike) and let the kids mess with the old one, which I thought was broken. My son Jaren, who's name will always be blessed (is that blasphemous?), was able to retrieve the old pictures and this was among them. It just goes to show that kids are far more technologically able than I am. I've got to take a class or something!

Nativity Scene - Straw Nativity

I'm making nativities as Christmas gifts for the family and as belated wedding gifts (they will be first Christmas reminders instead of wedding presents since I missed the receptions).

This is one of several. If you happen to be family and are checking this out before Christmas, shield your eyes! I'm not sure which ones I'm giving to whom so it'll still be a surprise, right?