Cottage Cheese Containers

My parents were fairly thrifty people probably because they lived through the Great Depression and its aftermath. As with most others who lived during this time, they amassed a large collection of stuff to re-use, just in case. I know because I found their stash of stuff when it came time to sort through the farmhouse. Some of those things were cottage cheese containers, shoe boxes, corks, wrapping paper, spools, etc. They did it for economic reasons because going green hadn't even been thought of yet. As a kid, I thought re-using stuff was embarrassing but guess what?

I'm starting to wonder if I could have a problem with "just in case"! It all began when I read that quilters were re-using clean fruit and salad to-go containers for sorting quilting supplies and blocks. (Our version of cottage cheese containers.) That's about when I started looking at containers a little differently and realized potential quilting containers are everywhere!

One evening my husband and I even debated whether we should use the divided or undivided clear plastic containers for our to-go food from the grocery store salad bar. The dilemma: Quilt blocks cannot lay flat in a divided container so you should choose an undivided container. However if you choose an undivided container, your salad will get all mixed together and certain ingredients will touch each other! Help. Just so you know, we settled on divided containers. I guess food still wins over quilting!

This blogpost is just a little light hearted poke at our own tendency to save stuff. They probably aren't the same things our parents saved but I wonder if my kids will find ceiling high stacks of clear plastic to-go food containers.

I can just hear them say, "What in the world was Mom thinking?!?"