ABC + 123

this little alphabet and number dress is the last piece i made for the once upon a thread march sew along. it was made from the oliver + s puppet show pattern, using alexander henry fabric. thank you no big dill for the fun challenge.

these are some of our favorite books to read, and suki loves the alphabet song. when i saw this fabric, i knew it would make a dress suki would be happy in. she already has ideas about what she likes to wear.

i let suki pick out the buttons and they actually worked really well. she always enjoys our trips to the fabric store and especially loves the spools of thread. every time we go i let her pick one out. it's become our tradition.

for the cats SPECIAL GIVE-AWAY

IT'S GIVE-AWAY TIME, FOLKS!

you can win this hand embroidered kotoa catnip toy for your favorite feline friend!

made with super strong organic catnip.

guaranteed fly-time!

here are the three ways to win this gift:

#1. sign up to become a follower of the KOTOA blog, or

#2. if you already follow, leave a comment including the cat recipient's name, or

#3. post the give away on your twitter and mention @KOTOAmade

there will be a drawing of all the eligible contestants to determine the winner on

MONDAY APRIL 4TH

all entries must be submitted by Monday, April at 9AM

GOOD LUCK, KITTIES!

moomin sweet mats

 it's almost too late but i finally completed my second project for the once upon a thread sew along. i made sweet mats for suki and beedle, inspired by moomins and a japanese embroidery book i bought this winter. 

they were almost as happy with the mats as they were with the truffles.

check out the once upon a thread flickr page.

BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY - AGNES, QUEEN OF SORROW

today i was sewing and listening to music on shuffle. this song came on and it reminded me of how great this music video is.

sasha farm visit

yesterday we drove to manchester, michigan, to visit the cow who is now sponsored for the year by wake up weekend. his name is moose and he is the cutest little calf. 

when we arrived he was at the bottom of the hill hiding by a little tree. monte had to walk him up to meet us, he was too nervous to do it on his own.

once he made it to the top of the hill it did not take him long to warm up. he gave us many kisses and was very calm. 

we met another young cow earlier in the day who was terrified of suki, i expected moose would be as well but he wasn't. they were instant friends.

suki and moose are the same age, it will be fun to watch them grow together. we are already planning another trip with our friends kolin, matt, susan, and beedle. i hope that a lot of people who were at the wake up weekend benefit show make the drive to meet him sometime this year. there were so many fun animal friends at sasha farm. i decided to feature moose for this post otherwise it would be too long, but if you would like to see more of our trip check out my flickr page.

check out the vegucator's wake up weekend recap

extraVEGANza! just put up a great photo essay on this year's Wake Up Weekend

enjoy the events through the vegucator's eye

and don't forget to get a poster before it's too late!

images from the calvin college faculty show

i have been meaning to post images of this show for quite awhile, but i just recently made the time to go take some pictures.

suki is amazed by this piece by anna greidanus. the birds go all the way up to the ceiling. it looks beautiful in the new gallery. 

this installation by jo-ann van reeuwyk is incredible. she made vessels out of used tea bags and filled them with things she found on walks in nature. the two large bags are not shown here but they are my favorite. 

adam gave suki and cookie monster a tour of the gallery, and they were very impressed.

the following images are of adam's work. 

this was my favorite. great job adam!