3 things to come.

A couple weeks ago, this arrived at my doorstep.

Which means that I've been cutting out tumbler blocks for my next quilt.

 It also means that I'll be posting a tutorial for this quilt once I get it pieced together!

And I'll be giving away an Accuquilt Go! Baby Fabric Cutter to one of you very soon!

Note:  I was given a Go! Baby fabric cutter by the folks at Accuquilt and will be posting my honest thoughts on the cutter along with my tutorial.  

7 a is for...

acquiring new skills!  I've made a little progress on my Daisychain ABCs crewel sampler from Posie Gets Cozy.  

I had never chain stitched or made french knots before this.  Or used crewel wool for any sort of embroidery.  The instructions that came with this kit are great, and french knots aren't nearly as scary as I thought they were!  

 Moving onto letter B now!

6 the blue chair.

I picked up this awesome tufted wingback chair at a local consignment shop a few weeks ago, and I absolutely love it.  It's upholstered in a navy/almost teal blue velvet (it is a bit darker than it looks in these pictures) and is in really great shape.

It's even got brass nailhead trim on the arms for a little sparkle.  

The legs are in perfect shape as well.

 The best part is, it is super comfortable to sit in!  I was pleasantly surprised the first time I sat in it.

We are starting the process of painting our front living room (the top color in the swatch below...although it is hard to take accurate pictures of paint swatches), and this chair is going to look awesome in the finished space!

I know I am behind in sharing before and after pictures of our house.  I am slowly making progress with decorating each room.  I realize they are never going to feel completely "finished", so I promise to start sharing more pictures with you!

10 the best summer salsa.

I thought I'd share a recipe for my go-to summer dish to bring to a cookout.  This salsa (called Texas Caviar) is so delicious!  Every time I make it someone asks for the recipe, and it is so simple and quick to make.

Texas Caviar
For the salsa:
3 multi-colored peppers, diced (I usually use red, green, and orange for the most color...today I had yellow instead of orange).
1/2 medium red onion, diced
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, rinsed

For the marinade:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar

Directions:  
Dice peppers and onions, combine with rinsed beans, chickpeas, and corn into a medium sized bowl.  Combine marinade ingredients in a small saucepan, heat to boiling and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.  Pour marinade over salsa and refrigerate overnight.  Drain before serving (save some of the marinade to store leftovers in).  Serve on tortilla chips or crackers.

This recipe makes a lot of salsa...you'll worry you have too much, but I assure you that won't be the case!  I bet it is almost all gone by the end of the cookout, and if you have some left over, it will taste even better the next day.

I usually serve it in a glass trifle bowl since it's so colorful.  It looks really pretty sitting on the table!  Enjoy!

11 sewing summit.

I just registered and booked my flight to the Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City!

In case you've somehow missed it, here's a description of the Sewing Summit from their website.

"We are a sewing and blogging conference for the modern sewist who wants to connect with others in a fun and inspiring setting. We are planning classes, panels, speakers, vendor demonstrations, networking events and more. Whatever it is that you sew - garments, handbags, kids items, quilts - they'll be classes and activities for you!"

I am so excited to have some uninterrupted sewing time, to take some classes, and obviously to meet all of my lovely blog friends!  So who else is going, other than my roomies Rachel and Amanda?  I'm counting down the days until October!

6 lindsay + jay.

As promised, here are some pictures of my sister Lindsay's wedding this past week.  It was a small destination wedding on the beach, and it was lovely!  I played photographer while the girls got ready, so most of these pictures are of the wedding prep.

Here's the beautiful bride, ready to get all done up.

 The bridesmaids put together the flower arrangements, I love the lemons at the bottom of the vase!

 

 This little girl and her sister were so cute and well behaved.

 My sister Gaby painting her nails...check out the updo that I did for her, inspired by this one on Pinterest.

 Lindsay's sister Stephanie, arranging flowers.

Our sister Dani, proud of her lantern assembly skills.

 The other adorable little one, watching The Princess and the Frog.

 Gaby doing Lindsay's sister Alyssa's hair.

Lindsay's hair getting started.

Alyssa's hair in a fishtail braid.

 Lindsay carried this orange folder with her everywhere!  All of the wedding contracts, etc. were in there.

 Almost finished.

Some of the other floral arrangements.

 The bride, checking our her hair in the mirror.

Walking down the aisle with our dad (right) and her stepdad.  My camera started having humidity issues at this point.

 Lindsay and Jay getting married!

 Exchanging rings..

 and sharing a kiss.

 Walking back down the aisle as husband and wife!

 She is one happy, gorgeous bride!

This photo of my dad and sister Dani is one of the best pictures I've ever taken.  Can you feel the love here? It makes me cry!

 My dad and I in front of the ocean.

 Gaby making her usual silly faces.

 The bride and her proud father!

 Dad congratulating the happy couple.

 The little ones again, looking cute.

 Gaby enjoying her first vacation on the ocean.

 Somersaulting in celebration!

Congrats Lindsay and Jay!

2 summer vacation.

I just got back from spending a few days with my sisters and our dad in the little town of Holden Beach, NC.  I haven't had time to edit our photos yet but I did want to share that I finally tried my hand at sewing clothes.  I made two dresses to wear on our trip, one of which I wore during the wedding.  This is not the greatest picture of my sisters and I, but it was sunny and really windy (and about 100 degrees and humid!) and it's the best we could do at the time.  It does show the dress I made though, even if it is a little wrinkly at this point!  It's the Socialite Dress from Anna Maria Horner, made using a khaki and white Premier Prints fabric I bought last year.

I'll be back tomorrow to share some pictures from the wedding!

4 summer sherbet quilt top.

I feel like I have been slacking on my quilts this summer!  Which is okay considering it's summer and I feel like I need to be outside rather than sitting inside with my sewing machine, but I kind of miss the feeling of being productive!  I've had this zigzag pieced for a few months now and finally put the rest of the top together this week.  

Now to figure out what to use as a backing...which I probably won't decide this weekend since I am off to my sister's wedding in North Carolina on Sunday!  Hope you all have a great weekend!