Ot; Obsession with doing things right

I would like to share something that I have made as a new years resolution for myself. I resolved that: "I would only have things that I considered beautiful, surrounding me". I know that sounds impossible, if not a bit pretentious, but if you think of it, you spend your life using things and being around things, that give meaning to your life. So why not do it with things that have some semblance of style and beauty, and meaning, if only in your own mind. Notice I did not say costly things, or things that everybody else thinks are beautiful. Things that are not costly can also be considered beautiful. We, as creators of fine quilts, take that as a given, I would hope. I don't think any of us would consciously set out to make something that did not reflect the best of our efforts, no mater what those levels of excellence could produce. Beginners at quilting should strive to produce the "best" that can be cone, within the limits, of their recently acquired quilting skills. Old timers, at quilting, or should I say, seasoned veterans, can bring a wealth of skills to the project, that can amaze and enrich the viewers of their latest endeavors. Enter the humble recycling bins. Why should we have to use a leftover cardboard box to take those recyclables to the recycling center. Or worse yet, why should we have to look at an ugly cardboard box that is obviously holding stuff, that you are going to throw away. I passed the recycling area in our basement, and was struck by the need to live by my stated ideals in ways that I might not have thought about, had I not committed to this whole ideal, of doing only things correctly and with a sense of personal style and beauty. I hated the fact that I was seeing those cardboard boxes, every time I went downstairs. I have long taken to heart the ideals of William Morris, the late 19th century English Design maven, who famously stated, "Have nothing about you that you do not consider beautiful". So, within the parameters of the intended resolution, I give you my latest endeavors, of a non quilting nature. The humble recycling bins. It is interesting to come upon things that you never had given much thought too, and to think of them as something that could be made better. Whether purchased, or made by yourselves, it is a laudable ideal to aspire to. And, it makes my basement, a much prettier place to pass through.

formatting link
John

Reply to
John
Loading thread data ...

formatting link

Reply to
Michelle G.

Actually I do toss them into the bins. the milk jugs I rinse, at the sink, and then let drip dry and then give them a toss. That is one of the reasons I painted the interior of the larger one. The second reason is that the best surface is on the outside and the imperfections are on the inside. I can always hit the inside with another spray of the paint, if anything drippy happens. The smaller one, I coated with Spar Varnish. The same sort of varnish which goes on sailboats, which sail on the oceans and endure salt spray and bashing about of rigging. So, it should handle a couple of cans and bottles, placed into it. If I had chosen to use a couple of plastic containers, like you did, I probably would never done these things, but, as I said, I had some crummy cardboard boxes and they were starting to show their age. Every time I came downstairs I would see these boxes, in all their frayed agony, and it just started to wear on me. I had the wood to make them, from leftovers projects, along with the handles. In fact I have had the handles for about 30+ years, and I never had used them, so this was not a time to worry about the cost. Now I don't have to avert my eyes when I head down the stairs, and that is a good thing, considering that I might take a tumble, while averting my eyes!

John

Reply to
John

Thanks John, not for only sharing your neat recycling bins but your ideals about having things around you that add to our lives. Our home is odd because it has in it things we love and we tend to gravitate to different 'things' than others would. I like to look at photos of sewing rooms online to get an idea of where folks create. I am always saddened that sewing rooms look like the leftovers at a yard sale. I am ok with old stuff but sewing rooms tend to end up with cast off pieces. Anyway, thanks for getting us thinking along these lines. BTW, dad has a wooden recycling bin he made under the can crusher. There is also a very oddly designed large garbage bag holder in addition to a grocery store bag holder for trash in the kitchen he made of wood. You carpenters are creative fellows. : ) Taria

formatting link

Reply to
Taria

Well it doesn't have to be costly to be beautiful, it just has to meet the aesthetic and use requirements of the user. I remember using found telephone cable spools for tables and concrete blocks and boards for bookcases, for my first apartment. A judiciously applied coat of paint, cured a multitude of flaws, and made everything new and good to me. And I was quite proud of them. But then that was in style back in the 1960's, so I was rather cutting edge, in that regard.

John

Reply to
John

Thank the Lord! Lois is safe! She's beautiful.

Bronnie

Reply to
Bronnie

Congrats on your efforts to make your surroundings more pleasing. The bins are really nice looking. My question is why you have them in your basement. First you have to carry items downstairs to the bins, the lug them back upstairs when it is time to take them to the recycling center. Going down the stairs is good exercise, but lugging the bins upstairs is hard work and might be dangerous if you would fall. Linda

formatting link

Reply to
M Enneking

OTOH, there is great comfort in a cardboard box. There are two in my sewing room for the resident Yorkie and any guest Yorkie that comes by. We keep more neatly bagged in storage. A cardboard box provides shelter from small children, large adults, lights and drafts. It is big fun when warranted to dig and scratch to knock down imagined tall grass. Rare is the cat or boy who doesn't see wonderful things about the humble cardboard box. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

If cardboard rings your bell, then far be it from me to question your choices. On the other hand, or paw, here are two more examples, of overachievement for you to ponder for that lovely little Yorkie.

formatting link
John

Reply to
John

The downstairs is the most logical place for our needs. The kitchen is taken up with producing meals, not dealing with their detritus. We like to wait until we have a full enough load to head off to the recycling center, and so that accounts for the large size of the plastic box. I made it because I was really displeased with what I was using. a raggedy cardboard box. So it was win/win for me.

John

Reply to
John

Howdy!

It makes you happy; that's enough reason to obsess over this at your house.

We have recycle bins provided by the city; we use 3 or 4 each week; they sit outside the garage, just a short walk from the kitchen. They are recycle-able recycle bins; when one wears out, we recycle and get another. One of the neighbors thinks we're "obsessive about recycling". Okay. ;->

[I do not clean all containers before they go into the recycling bins; the recyclers wash everything; I don't use the extra water.]

Today I recycled cotton quilt batting - it fits onto the Swiffer sweeper just fine; I can wash & re-use it, or toss it out to be recycled in nature.

Whatever works for you.

R/Sandy - I obsess over quilting thread ...

Reply to
Sandy E

John, We had an 'entertainment center" made of cinder blocks, 2'x5' boards, all painted with a spray can of matte black paint. We even added some wooden oval carved thingies (bought at the local lumber store) to the front. That entertainment center moved all over the country with us for many years (my husband was in the military). We had to disassemble it and reassemble it with each move and repainted it a few times too. Finally it began to crumble around the edges and we were actually kind of sad to see it go; it reminded us of our first years of marriage, before the kids. It's nice to look back and see that we were so proud of our ingenuity. Michelle G.

Well it doesn't have to be costly to be beautiful, it just has to meet the aesthetic and use requirements of the user. I remember using found telephone cable spools for tables and concrete blocks and boards for bookcases, for my first apartment. A judiciously applied coat of paint, cured a multitude of flaws, and made everything new and good to me. And I was quite proud of them. But then that was in style back in the 1960's, so I was rather cutting edge, in that regard.

John

Reply to
Michelle G.

And one of more noble things about a cardboard box is...your recycling container can likewise be recycled. Cardboard boxes entertain cats for hours. When boxes around here get ratty, I just send them to work with DH, they then become "OCC" and are thrown right into the pulper to become the paper that you see on the outside of sheetrock (gypsum board). On the subject of recycling, I'm gonna tell you a recycling story that makes no sense at all. The paper mill gets books from (nameless, but you know it)...store that sells books, music, videos. They send books by the semi-truckload for recycling. These are *new books*. Perfect condition except for the wear & tear from being hauled loose in a semi-truck. Some of them you can tell are what didn't sell in the "remainder" bin. Most of them are children's books. New children's books. Nice ones, even one was the gift set special edition "Polar Bear Express". Now. I am all for recycling. But I think these new books should go to children or schools or libraries. It just doesn't make sense to throw brand new books into a pulper. Sorry for the OT rant. It has been on my mind.

Sherry

Reply to
Sherry

Dear John

Wanna hear my resolution???

I will not open any more of your pictures because every time I do, I sit there and drool and my laptop does not like that!

Ok, so here's the deal; if I pay for your airfare over to Spain, and provide you with food and lodging, will you come to my house and beautify it with your wondroues wooden creations? Please? PLease? PLEASE???

You are truly an artist

My hat off to you

Claudia

Reply to
claudia

I wish we had that sort of recycling service here. It is up to individuals to deal with recycling, if they even recycle at all. I only clean the things I put in the bins because they are kept inside the house, in the basement, and I want to stop ants and cockroaches from setting up a feeding station in the basement, water is not an issue here in the midwest. And I will be damned if I will carry plastic milk jugs across 75 feet of snow to the garage. We sit atop the largest aquifer in the united states. If you remember my thread cabinet, then I guess obsession with quilting thread, would fit right in to your way of doing things.

John

Reply to
John

My airfare would be the least of the costs. Think large shipping container filled with a whole bunch of power tools, which would not work on European electrical connections. Necessitating costly conversion devices, or worse yet, rental or purchase of more Euro specific, tools. It isn't as simple as throwing a couple of tools in a bag and heading off to rebuild the world. Although, a couple of weeks on the Costa del Sol, might just be desirable for any number of reasons. A couple of weeks, anywhere warm, would be better than the last month of snow in Ohio.

John

John

Reply to
John

S Here is a recycling rant for you to consider. This story was on the news last night. Somebody was passing by one of the large upscale retail clothing stores in NYC and they spied large dumpster bins filled with clothes, that had been slashed with knives to render the unusable. The reason was the maker did not want it's upscale clothes being sold in downscale outlets. This in a city that has a charity outlet that is willing to remove the labels from clothing that is donated so that won't be an issue. That clothing could have gone to the homeless, in one of the coldest winters in the northeast. That is the sort of thing that sets me off. My wooden boxes can also be recycled. They come from sustainable forrest harvested lumber here in the US (the only kind I use), and not from deforested offshore lumber. There are many ways to get green, and I just choose, and am able to facilitate my choice, which also includes aesthetic elements, that enrich my life.

John

Reply to
John

Reply to
Roberta

Reply to
Roberta

Howdy!

Recycling service & the public library: best things about living in Arlington. ;-D

R/Sandy - I can quilt anywhere...

*snip*
*snippedty-doo-dah*

Reply to
Sandy E

InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.