Digitizing

I’ve had laundry basket labels on my to-do list for some time. With a label, Iqbal will know which basket to put things in when he does that chore and I won’t end up shrinking or bleaching something if I forget to double check before putting them in the machine. I started working on them last spring, but interruptions and distractions kept me from finishing.

At first I did them too big. When I stitched one out, I didn’t like the size or the material I stitched it on. I got some white felt and finally, this week I resized and fixed some things. Unfortunately, I didn’t adjust enough for the resize. There are too many double and triple lines. It shows.

I probably don’t need to us quite as dark a gray, either. Definitely need to punch the holes in better light. Not sure when these will all be done.

Election

I fervently pray that the healing Biden spoke of in his acceptance speech will happen. I have seen too much aggressive nastiness on both sides. We do not achieve anything good with nastiness. We need the “united” in United States. We are all red, white and blue states. We need unity and we need to let all who represent us know that we expect it of them.

Sugar

While technically not additive, in large part because there are no withdrawal symptoms, sugar is definitely habit forming and triggers cravings even when we’re not hungry. Despite no withdrawal symptoms, it’s still habit forming and a hard habit to kick. And a bad one. Not just for our weight. Despite the initial energy high, too much sugar drains our energy and interferes with our brain function–more so as we get older.

Knowing this, it just boggles me that practically everything we buy at the grocery store, that isn’t fresh from the farm, has sugar added. I like sweets, but not in everything. I no longer buy processed peanut butter, because even the sugar free brands don’t taste as good a fresh pressed peanut butter from the bulk section of the grocery. I’ve never cared for jarred spaghetti sauce and after some experimentation discovered it’s because I have never in 58-60 years added sugar to my homemade sauce. I was told it cuts the acid. Since sugar can give me acid, I looked it up. It does not actually cut the acid. It makes the acidity less obvious and therefore more palatable. For some. Not me. I just taste sweet where sweet doesn’t belong, despite what some chefs and a lot of recent recipes I’ve tried say.

I’m not immune, though. My favorite packaged cereals are sugar laden. I can’t drink coffee without sugar and cream. And I’m as addicted as anyone to cookies and candy. Stevia helps. Some people don’t like it because it’s bitter, but for me, it’s only bitter if I use too much (or in coffee without cream or milk). One eighth to one fourth teaspoon powdered stevia for every two teaspoons sugar on cereal or in coffee, or in a cup of yogurt with fresh or frozen fruit and maybe some rolled oats (toasted or not). The yogurt mix, and sometimes some coffee, is my best breakfast.

The quilt

I hope to complete the final row tonight (11/7/20), and to start combining them into one cloth. Then I can finally start embellishment. Soccer and eagles are what he asked for. Not exactly sure how they’ll combine. So far, my ideas are only soccer related. Probably won’t try to combine them since we don’t know or follow an eagle team. Hmmm… wonder if he wants some Timbers symbols. — “I don’t mind.” — Some new ideas, though not eagles.

My style on this will be a mix. Definitely it’s influenced by Spirit Cloth, but also by crazy quilt type embroidery. Another part will be the influence of various art quilt books I’ve read. Mostly, I suspect, it’ll be simply a quilt by me for Iqbal. What he wants the way I feel like doing it.