I had a few tough winter days this last week. To comfort myself I visited my friend Natasha and her baby Imari.

For me, life becomes simple again when you read to a baby.

I love reading Imari the little Maisy books by Lucy Cousins.

In one illustration I discovered a picture of Maisy’s quilt. It was made of forty-two little squares of red, yellow, black, white and blue.

With a pencil I drew up the pattern. At home I rummaged through my fabric scraps and found pieces that approximated the same colours. I cut out 5cm squares and laid them out in the same design.

During the afternoon I sewed the tiny rows together. I found some old wool wadding and a cherry red scrap with fine white dots.

These layers were pinned together with the little quilt top. I machine quilted around all the little squares and secured the edges in a decorative blanket stitch.

Finally I machine embroidered the letter M in the corner and took it to give to Imari. Together we wrapped her tiny toy Maisy and put her into a cardboard bed.

Maisy’s quilt project filled a rainy afternoon with colour and fun.

It is fun to focus on something small and playful and get lost in it.

I wonder what strategies you use to to get through your difficult days?

I have always doubted the articles in magazines that say - Make A Quilt This Week-end. Now I have just made one.

Two factors made my week-end quilt possible. I used a quilt kit with a large central panel. I was also away with my quilting mates for a sewing week-end. What a pleasure to relax with friends to laugh with and a project to work on.

Secretly I thought that using a kit and a panel was cheating. That was before Carols of Midland started coming out with some stunning kits. Now I no longer care if it was cheating or not.

This rug is for my two year old nephew Bronson who lives in a cold wild corner of Tasmania. I backed the quilt with royal blue chenielle to make it cosy.

It was fun to use the BSR function on my Bernina to sew around all the big digger outlines in the central panel. This makes them stand out and gives the rug some interesting texture.

I hope Bronson drags this rug around the yard. I hope he takes it to watch his brother play footy. He might use it as a cubby or a truck rug when he is driving with his Dad. I hope it is used every day.

A few years into school Bronson will probably be too grown up for a quilt with yellow diggers all over it. By then I hope it is stained, threadbare and enjoying a second life as a beach shack bath mat or a rug for the new puppy.

The first time I walked into the old Calico House quilt fabric shop I fell under the spell cast by the owner Joanna Brazier. Her shop was full of romance, theatre and fabulous fabric from all over the world.

For many years that shop was where I went for inspiration and comfort. It was the place to take friends and visitors - quilters and non quilters alike.

I did several courses and I made many quilts. One sad day the shop moved. Now it had a new name and new staff. I still saw Joanna there sometimes but the shop was really changing. Sadly for me the magic faded and I stopped visiting.

Yesterday I dropped by the shop to buy something. As I entered I braced myself for the usual feelings of loss and disappointment. What a surprise I was in for.

The second I stepped through the door I experienced a thrill I haven’t had since the heady days of the old Calico House. Fresh colours, new layout and an energy that was just so exciting.

Debbie Ogilby has taken over the shop which is now called Calico and Ivy. I can’t describe how thrilled I am to see passion and zing back in the place.

Check out the Calico and Ivy website or visit them at 1 Glyde Street, Mosman Park.

I have written before about how important it is not to expect children to be grateful for what you sew and what you do.

I am sure a lot of you will agree with me that the joy needs to come from the doing - anything after that is a bonus.

I’ve just received such a bonus in the form of a hand made red felt doll made by eight year old Elke.

Finding out her mother was visiting me she said, “Take this and show Julia. No give it to Julia - she was like another mother to me when I was little.”

I felt stunned and deeply moved. All the memories of cuddling Elke, reading stories, drawing and walking hand in hand down the street came back to me.

Elke moved away before she started kindy - it didn’t ever occur to me that she could remember the special times we had. I loved them too Elke!

Elke found the lovely pattern for her gift to me on page 14, Lucy’s Monster (by Marne’ Kales) in the book Softies by Suzie Fry and many others.

You’ll find some other great inspiration on the website Softie Central.

On the drive to sewing I take a very busy road that leads to the freeway south. A sign is posted that says – “Turtles cross here”.

For the last ten years I have read that sign, looked at the speeding traffic and thought – “Yeah sure they do!”

On Friday I was on the cork screw ramp that curls up to the freeway when there it was – a small turtle crossing the road.

At first I thought it was a piece of rubber – then it moved. I glanced in the mirror and saw the car behind me was some distance back. I put on my brake lights and the guy behind me raised his hand to stop the traffic behind.

The traffic stood still as little black turtle, neck outstretched purposefully, made his way across the road. It was a surprising moment and I felt blessed to see it.

Sometimes finding the time for creativity feels as unlikely as a turtle crossing a busy road. It is tempting to put off living our creative lives until we find a quiet moment, a perfect studio etc.

I think there’s a lot to be said for the turtles example, be bold, strike out and maybe a miracle will happen. Sometimes if we just start doing what it is we want to do the rest falls in to place.

[Thanks to Daniel James for making his photo of a turtle crossing a road available under Creative Commons licence on Flickr. Arkansas is a long way from Australia, but I'm sure the turtles had similar things on their mind.]

Have you every seen something that seems to vibrate when you look at it?

This is because your eye does not know where to look first. We have all seen those quilts that make you feel hectic and tired just looking at them.

Working with quilts, picture walls or scrap books all involve arranging things. Here is how I have learnt to tackle it.

Start by arranging the images from lightest to darkest with darkest at the bottom. Blurring your eyes will cut out the detail and just let you see the overall lightest or darkness of each block or picture.

This tells your eye start at the top and move to the bottom.

Next arrange horizontals so that like images are separated. Try to create contrast. A busy block or image next to a simple one, bright next to dull etc.

This part is about trying to avoid visual holes that look particularly flat or busy.

Now go over the vertical line of images or blocks looking at the same contrast issues.

Finally choose a colour - yellow is great one but it can be other colours too. I try to create a zigzag line of images or blocks that contain that colour. Ideally that line should be from the top left to the bottom right.

Your eye will pick up on even the most subtle of path and follow it through the overall quilt or whatever you are arranging.

That process is sometimes enough to resolve the overall effect into a stillness. It’s more likely that you’ll have to keep moving a few pieces around.

One quilter I know will always devote at least two hours to this process of block arranging.

I’ve seen people take digital photos in case they get it right and then lose it again. I’ve seen others stand on stairs and look down - just to get an overall effect.

There is definately a magic moment when the quilt or set of images suddenly look very still. It is worth the time to get there.

Maybe you have some arranging tricks you would like to share. I’d love to hear from you.

Next time I am feeling a little uninspired I must remember to go check out the wonderful blog of Happythings. Her playful spirit gets me smiling. Her eye for beauty reminds me to pay attention to what is close at hand.

This wonderful woman makes me feel like I’ve opened the window and filled the house with sunshine and fresh air. Suddenly there are possibilities and inspriration all around.

Happythings is a life manual. Wake up, pay attention, play and get happy.

I love being read to. It is a delicious pleasure that is free to every couple and every family. Having said this, it has never occured to me to read to my sewing circle.

The idea popped up in a post on the site Library Advocate.

The librarians from the School Library Learning Team have put together a list of wonderful books to be read aloud at your sewing circle. I was very pleased to see Gloria Whelan’s Homeless Bird made the list.

I bought this book for my daughter and just fell in love with it. For the 13 year old girl in the story sewing is both joy and survival. Her love of sewing shapes her destiny and yes, it has a satisfying happy ending.

Many of the books in the reading list are new to me. I can’t wait to put in an order for them at the library.

You can see the original list on the Library Advocate link above. I think we should put together our own list.

Do you have a favourite story you would like to read to your sewing circle?

Jenny makes artificial eyes for people. Several times a week people sit for her and she hand paints the iris of their new eye.

For Jenny’s birthday I made her a cat from the same pattern I used to make Imari’s Dingle. I stitched the words Make Art With Heart on his belly.

On the back of the cat is a cape. Underneath that cape there is a pink flannel heart sewn in reverse applique.

This tells a story about Jenny. She puts her whole heart into every eye she makes no matter who it is for.

It doesn’t matter if a client is grumpy or difficult. Jenny understands the processes of grieving and loss. She is just as committed to making them the very best eye she can.

Underneath her lab coat Jenny has an extraordinary heart. Her clients love her. They bring her vegetables from their garden, their favourite novels, pictures of their children and chocolate cake.

It is wonderful to know that there are people like Jenny in the world. She just turned forty. I gave her a cat. I hope she likes him.

I’ve just made my mother a snake dog for her birthday.

The design comes from Miyako Kanamori’s wonderful book Sock and Glove. Miyako’s patterns use socks or gloves to create soft toys.

My mother lives in town these days but for fifty years she was a farmer’s wife. She spent many days alone in the bush with the farm dogs for company.

A snake dog was a great asset to any farming family. Our best was a red cattle dog called Cindy who came from the RSPCA.

She had a great instinct for a quick attack, grab and shake. Dogs that grab behind the head live the longest. Any snakes that came too close to the house would have to deal with Cindy.

She was only bitten once when she tackled a big brown snake under the house. My brother applied a pressure bandage, drove 35 km and paid a few hundred dollars to save her.

This birthday my mother will be 88. She has just bought a five year membership to a local football club. In his later years American comedian George Burns used to tell people he didn’t even buy green bananas.

I had great time making Barker for my Mother. I hope she likes him.