So close!

The Ballbreaker shirt is almost done. I was so close to being done, but I just ran out of time. I got the date stitched

I added a few stitches around the guitar to hold the center down

And then worked on the border stitching. I decided to try basting a row of stitches to be my guide rather than marking the quilt with tailor's wax. The tailor's wax disappears with heat, but with the shirts being sewn together with free cut edges, it takes a while to measure and draw the lines. With the sewing machine all I have to do is follow the edge of the shirt with the sewing machine foot. This method worked great! The basting came out easy after I was done with the embroidery. I got two of the three sides of the shirt embroidered. I will work on finishing this at lunch and after work. For sure tonight I will get to start on another shirt!

I used three different types of floss for this shirt - DMC cotton floss, DMC satin floss, and DMS sparkle metallic floss. I used three strands of each, but in the future I will only use two strands of the satin and metallic floss. Both of those are a bit harder to stitch with. The satin floss seems thicker so I think two strands will do. The metallic is a stiffer thread that doesn't slide thru the fabric as easy as the cotton floss.

I didn't water last evening because there was a chance of rain. The rain never came so I watered before I left for work. Here is yesterday's picture of the Shasta daisies and this morning's picture. Every day more buds pop open.

This morning I saw my canna are growing! Now these rhizomes we totally abused by me so I am so happy I am getting anything! In the second picture you see that dark area? Well since I water the canna almost every day the ground is soft and that dark spot is a hole made by a deer hoof. There is more growth coming, but it is hard to see in a picture.

The Shasta daisy seeds are just starting to break ground. The thistle are popping up everywhere with my watering so I will have to get out this weekend and pull those. The thistle are the bigger plants; look close and you can just see the daisies.

Last night the deer also bit off the top of a couple of the zinnias. It won't hurt them. This will just force the zinnias to send out branches. Crazy deer!

I also picked some strawberries this morning.

How many of these would it take to bake a pie? I put a penny in the picture for scale. These are wild strawberries that have taken over my yard - and you thought I had a strawberry patch! LOL!!