All three of us struggled with this week's photo challenge. I promised myself last week that I wouldn't wait till the last minute to decide on a photo. Yet I didn't get really serious about taking a photo for this week's challenge till about 9 PM last night. Grad Girl didn't send me her shot till almost 1 AM this morning. She has an excuse, she's had a busy week of not only research, but new semester stuff too. I'm busy, but I definitely have more control over what keeps me busy.
The theme for this week is definitely one that's open to a lot of interpretation.
If you look up the definition of innovation it reads "a new method, idea, product, etc". All of our photos this week document something that was an innovation when it was introduced.
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| Kate: Quilting Innovations |
Of course my interpretation comes from the sewing room. There are actually 3 innovations in this photo, the cutting mat, the ruler, and the rotary cutter. The combination of these three were responsible for speeding up and improving the accuracy of cutting fabrics for quilt making. I still remember taking a class back in the mid 80's to learn how to use all three. As part of the class we received a set of thick plastic templates that were as long as the width of fabric. I think the size varied from 1.5" to 5.5". I know those are still in my sewing room somewhere.
My Guy's photo comes from the world of architecture/art.
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| My Guy: Once Innovative |
This is the Price Tower, the only sky scraper built from architect Frank Lloyd Wright's designs. If you aren't familiar with Mr. Wright's designs, his buildings were part of the Prairie Style movement, incorporating nature, craftmanship and simplicity. His designs were very innovative during the early 1900's. It's really a mini sky scraper, the scale is tiny, the bank of three elevators is a trip, literally. It's really fun to visit. It houses an inn and a new restaurant is opening up this week. I stayed here a couple of times when we were living in Texas, the décor is very 70's (lots of green and orange). We've eaten at the previous restaurant that was located at the very top. You can't beat the views of the surrounding countryside.
Grad Girl comes in with another chemistry related photo.
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| Grad Girl: More Effective, Efficient, Informative |
This is a chromatogram, the output of an instrument (a chromatograph) that separates the components of a solution. In the time I've been a chemist, the amount of innovation that has occurred in separation science has been huge. When I started using this type of instrumentation we were still using strip chart recorders. You would use the chromatograph to separate the components, which would be charted on the recorder as big bumps (peaks). If you wanted to measure how much was in the solution, you would then cut out the peak from the graph paper and weigh it, then compare that weight to a calibration chart to calculate the weight in that solution. Now the computer does all the calculations for you (if it's been calibrated).
That's it for last week. My Guy picked the card for this week. It should be fun to see what we all come up with, but especially My Guy as he is the exact opposite of this week's challenge.
My Guy said Grad Girl had the advantage this week. She took great exception to that till he clarified that it was because she has a cat.
Fun to see all the innovations on your blog this week. I didn't know Wright did any sky scrapers. But I love seeing his houses. I started quilting in 1982 (although I played a bit with it before.) But I agree 100% about the rotary cutter, mat and rulers really making a difference. I remember only using one brand of ruler for many years because I had figured out that some different brand rulers weren't the same. Weird. I've checked some recently and they are all accurate.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine quilting without the basic tools we've come to rely on, so I count them as great innovations! My husband was interested in the Price Tower, though, as he is a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright. We hadn't heard of it before. Science innovations are important to all of us, even if we aren't scientists. So, although your family was challenged by this week's topic, I think it is so interesting to see what you came up with!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos. Very interesting. The “skyscraper” was very interesting to see. I wasn’t aware of his architecture being of the “prairie” style. We have at least one of his buildings at our Oregon Gardens in one of the nearby towns.
ReplyDeleteVery cool building! I always check out your photo posts. The topics are fun and interesting. I agree, cats embody lazy better than anything else. If I could learn to relax half as much as my cat I'd be a whole new person.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your challenges every week, and this one was great. With hubby being an architect, I have heard a lot about FLW, but have never seen this high-rise. Definitely innovative for his time.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in Bartlesville from 1970-1977 and being in our early 20s and with a new baby, never thought a thing about the Price Tower. Only years later did we realize what a big deal it was. I like all the interpretations of innovation, especially yours. I've often wondered how I would cope if I went back in time to make a quilt and had to use (gasp) scissors to cut the pieces! I am LOL about your husband's comment to GG!
ReplyDeleteGreat interpretation of the challenge - I’ve yet to tour a Frank Lloyd Wright home/building and look forward to one day. Love the comment about next week’s card - a cat is the first thing I thought of too!
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