Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 24

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 24, Radial Symmetry

Photo by Betty Gott

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Betty says:

By increasing the exposure, I was surprised to see this plant looked as if it had been painted. Otherwise no changes were made except to crop it and give it a subdued frame.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 24 - Trash Treasure

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 24, Trash Treasure

Photo by Charlene Van Walleghen

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Charlene says:

The last telephone in our house that has one of these annoying cords is on the way out! For so many years, I fussed with the cord as it tried to curl up the wrong way or form knots on its own. Sometimes I lament the loss of older, treasured items in my home. However, this daily struggle with an obstinant phone cord is not a treasured memory. Long live the cell phone!

I thought the background fabric looked kind of prehistoric---just like the phone cord. I duplicated the layer and desaturated the top layer. I used Color Burn blend mode at 88% opacity. After flattening the layers, I adjusted shadows and highlights.

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 24 - Stripes

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 24, Stripes

Photo by Virginia Knab

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Virginia says:

3-D sign at local convenience store amid stripes starting at top with a blue sky. Did you spot the sparrow’s nest in the letter “e”? ISO100, shutter speed 750.

Ricky's Challenge Photos

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 24, Stripes

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky says:

I needed up experimenting with stripes placemats. In the end, I held one so that it waved and sort of gently rippled. Then I use Distressed FX and added a bit of color besides just the red

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 24, Radial Symmetry

Photo by Ricky Tims
from the 2022 Critique Group

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Ricky says:

I'm doing my dangdest to have a garden on the mountain. Curernly I have two very robust lupine plants. Rather than doing one big radial symmetry - I opted to have a little dance of several.

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Featured Quilt: Stars and Stripes

Stars and Stripes Forever

Made by Cyndi McChesney

Many moons ago when I was just starting to quilt, I joined a block exchange group at my local guild in St. Louis. When it was my turn to share a pattern, I designed my own pieced star block—but there was a twist. The points of the stars were in the adjoining blocks. At the time, I loved big prints o I gave the guidelines to use large prints, yellow in certain patches, and red in certain patches. I provided the blue and lavender fabrics. That quilt is shown at the bottom of the article. The quilt top was set aside and during my move to Colorado, the quilt was essentially lost in boxes that never got unpacked.

Fast forward

I was invited to create a quilt for Quilted in Honor and decided that this star quilt pattern would be a great option. However, there was only one problem...I didn't have that pattern...nor could I find the original quilt to use to redraft the pattern. So I had to work from scratch and do my best to redraw the block from memory. Stars and Stripes shown here is that revised version. It is created in America patriotic colors. The patten, however, was designed to be versatile and not just patriotic. To see an alternative color way, you will need to solve the jigsaw puzzle.

What happened to the quilt top?

It was discovered and I realized that it never got a border. Fortunately, there were still leftover fabrics in the bag with the quilt top so I was able to create a border for it.

click on quilt for full size view

TRY THE JIGSAW PUZZLE

Choose your own difficulty. Click the 9-patch grid to change number of pieces. Click the circle arrow to make the puzzle pieces rotating instead of stable orientation. Also, there are tips under the "?" on the upper right of the puzzle. If you'd like a full screen version, click the button below. Have fun!

Jigsaw Puzzle

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Featured Quilt: Itchy's Marvelous Dish

Itchy's Marvelous Dish

by Kat Bowser, quilted by Ricky Tims

click on quilt for full size view

While Kat has a degree in fashion merchandising, her career has been that of a professional singer. She's never made a quilt and never really seemed to want to. I've known her for such a long time that she's fallen in love with quilting and she was the brain behind using a quilt as inspiration for a story (see Lizzy Albright and the Attic Window, the fantasy novel we co-wrote).

During her recent visit she asked about making a bulldog block, but while I was out of the room, she pulled up a photo of Itchy, the Brazilian Spider Monkey she feeds from time to time, and asked if she could create her instead. Well, of course! I was so excited to be leading her down this journey.

Selecting fabrics was fun and Kat agrees she learned a lot about how fabric might look one way as a piece of cloth, but cut up into a shape and placed into the scene, gave it a completely different vibe.

Kat works at a place in Floria that has several acres of green space. There used to be forty or more Brazilian spider monkeys on the property, but now only one remains - her name is Itchy. Whenever Itchy insists on a treat, Kat takes a red solo cup full of cashews out to greet her.

I had a blast helping Kat make her first quilt. She used her original photo which show her holding the cup up for Itchy. The friendly primate fills her mouth, then one hand, and then the other and off she goes.

click on quilt for full size view

TRY THE JIGSAW PUZZLE

Jigsaw Puzzle

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Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 23

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 23, On the Fence

Photo by Julie Titus

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Julie says:

Downpour of raindrops splashes off the fence and makes fireworks.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 23 - Do Over

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 23, Do Over

Photo by Michele Naugler

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Michele says:

My Do Over is a square crop and dreamscape of a flower and bee. Increasing the vibrance made the colors pop and the dreamscape technique really intensified the effect.

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 23 - Chair

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 23, Chair

Photo by Deb Story

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Deb says:

This is an old rocking chair that was in my grandparents’ house. It sat by the heater and I spent many hours at their house sitting in it. It now sits in my living room but isn’t used much because everyone wants to sit in the comfy chairs! It reminds me of my grandparents tho…and I love it! Edited in Prisma app with Waiting

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Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 22

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 22, Abandoned

Photo by Dennis Crawford

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Dennis says:

Our beautiful, Nationally protected, Audobon bird sanctuary is a lovely place for a quiet walk, and bird watching. However not everyone sees it that way. There's no explanation for people who decide it's there for their personal trash dump. Nothing like an abandoned water bottle to beautify the place. Construction workers? Visiting grandkids? Who knows? What a pity

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 22 - Panning

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 22, Panning

Photo by Maria Cooper

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Maria says:

On a winters morning, with a cloudy sky and the sun hiding behind those clouds, I took this photo of a Kowhai tree. A tree that the New Zealand bird, the Tui, loves...

This is the first time I have felt ready to continue on this jouney after spending the last four months nursing my husband through a terminal illness.

Marlborough, New Zealand

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 22 - Lone Tree

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 22, Lone Tree

Photo by Joan Maryez

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Ricky's Challenge Photos

https://www.rickytims.com/images/blog/2022-blog/Photo_Of_The_Week/22-RickyTims-LoneTree.jpg

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 22, Lone Tree

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky says:

This is the a bonsai fig tree currently living in my kitchen window. Shot in portrait mode. High key version and then edited in Prisma to add a bit of color.

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 22, Abandoned

Photo by Ricky Tims
from the 2022 Critique Group

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Ricky says:

Indeed we had a pair of bluebirds working so hard to build a home in the western village barber shop birdhouse The late unusual winter storm brought extreme low temps and it seems that was the end of their house making. The nest is visible, but not the birds

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I'm Just Sayin

Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 24

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 24 - Trash Treasure

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 24 - Stripes

Featured Quilt: Stars and Stripes

Featured Quilt: Itchy's Marvelous Dish

Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 23

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 23 - Do Over

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 23 - Chair

Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week - Week 22

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 22 - Panning

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 22 - Lone Tree

More Articles ...

I'm Just Sayin

Photos of the Week - Week 24

52-Week Photo Challenge ClassWeek 24 - Trash Treasure

Smart Phone Photo Challenges Week 24 - Stripes

Photos of the Week - Week 23

52-Week Photo Challenge ClassWeek 23 - Do Over

Smart Phone Photo Challenges Week 23 - Chair

Photos of the Week - Week 22

52-Week Photo Challenge ClassWeek 22 - Panning

Smart Phone Photo Challenges Week 22 - Lone Tree

More Articles ...

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 24 - Trash Treasure

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 24 - Stripes

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 23 - Do Over

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 23 - Chair

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 22 - Panning

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 22 - Lone Tree