A Finish, A Gift, 1/2 Way Done...

I was in a huge hurry to get home last night so I could finish up the Log Cabin project. It ended up being a longer trip that I expected. First, the people I commute home with decided that we should all stop to pick strawberries. I couldn't refuse - there's only a few days left in the season and YUM!

Then to the bank to pay the mortgage and back to the house an hour after I expected to be there. When I walked in the door there was a package waiting for me on the counter. I had to opening and lo:
I received my Celebrate Summer exchange squares from Heather M. I spent some time thinking about how I could finish them and, instead of working on my project, decided that I needed to think about the squares while celebrating summer in the garden.

I haven't seen the garden in a week of rain. Damn it, somehow vegetables started growing in my weed bed! It was crazy. Two hours later I was found standing in the kitchen covered in mud with 10 pounds of radishes that I was luck to save from the slugs. The weeds were beaten back, but not likely subdued. Another hour of scrubbing and cutting got most of the slug juice off my hands. I finally said to myself, "Myself, we need to get this project done!" So I found my nail brush and went to town to get the last of the dirt off. I ended up giving that up as a lost cause, deciding that the dirt is there permanently and finished the project...
I couldn't be happier with how this came out! The outer border is a row of Smyrna crosses in Brown Paper packages Silk and Ivory wool. Just inside of that are Mill Hill beads attached with Rainbow Gallery Silk Grandeur. Each block is the Smyrna crosses, then a square of Kreinik Treasure Braid, then a square of Needle Necessities Shadowdyed Velour, a square of Rainbow Gallery Silk Grandeur and the inner blocks are the wool.

Not a bad finish to the first half of 2008! Next on my plate: I need to get through the July Quaker Square, do a couple of squares for the Fair & Square exchange, put in some time on Autumnal Abstract and get back to St. Petersburg!