Broulee's Banksia Village is a hotbed of creativity, and there is no better example than the patchwork of quilter Oriel Smith.
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Mrs Smith has been a patchwork quilt enthusiast since moving to Broulee from Killarney Heights in Sydney 20 years ago.
She was introduced to the hobby by Night Owl Quilters’ Merryn Farrington and says “the rest is history”.
She has since produced hundreds of quilts.
“It is a wonderful hobby,” Mrs Smith said.
“There are so many different facets to it, and down here we have brilliant quilters.”
It is amazing that Mrs Smith is able to produce quilts at all, let alone the beautiful quilts works she creates.
She has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for the past 50 years, and some of her knuckles are artificial.
Yet Mrs Smith keeps the quilts coming, not letting it affect the quality or quantity.
“You find a better way, a different way of doing things,” she said.
“When you really want to do something, you will. There is such joy in making them.”
She tries to get some quilting in every day.
“Sometimes it is all day, depending on whether I have a deadline,” she said.
She has some favourites among those she has produced.
“There was one I did for my son’s 50th with an eagle on it,” she said.
“I made an ocean one for my daughter called Turtle Cove. It has turtles all the way down.”
The time each quilt takes to complete varies. A quilt featuring photos of animals at Mogo Zoo was one her more challenging projects.
“I used an inkjet printer to get the photos onto the fabric,” she said.
Mrs Smith’s work will be on display at the South Coast and Country Quilters Guild’s 12th Biennial Quilt Show at the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club on September 12, 13 and 14.