Author: Stacey at myjigsawjournal

Mill Cottage In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments
Mill Cottage IP
Mill Cottage by Debbie Cook – Milton Bradley – 1000 pieces

I was up most of the night, so this puzzle finally got sorted and started. Yay insomnia? Yeah, I don’t think so. 🥱

On the plus side I’m finally working a puzzle again after a couple of days of almost no puzzling at all; on the minus side I’m exhausted and loopy and not all here mentally. Although one could argue that I am never “all there”. Whatever. I’m lots of fun!

When I was near the end of the sorting I found a couple of edge pieces that had become completely delaminated (the image was separated from the chipboard), but luckily both parts of the pieces were there so I could fix them before I started assembling. It was odd that it was only two pieces and that they were next to each other along the edge.

Mill Cottage pieces

The paper used for the image was quite sturdy, in fact when I was sorting I didn’t notice that these two pieces were much thinner than the rest. But I recognized immediately that the two pieces of chipboard had no image on one side. It was easily remedied with a little bit of super glue, not much of a problem at all really. Onward!

It looks as though it’s going to be a difficult assembly – there’s a LOT of green. But perhaps I’m wrong and it’ll be much easier than I thought. Here’s hoping.

I hope all you members of the PADS Posse have a great day, with plenty of time for our favorite hobby/obsession. Happy puzzling! 🧩

Quilting Country

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments
Quilting Country
Quilting Country by Eric Dowdle – MasterPieces – 1000 pieces

This is another thrift store puzzle that mom found for us, she got this one especially for me because she knew how much I love puzzles with quilts. I’ve had this around for probably a couple of years, and last month was when it looked like it was the right time for this puzzle. I’m glad I finally got this one done, it was lovely!

I’m still surprised at how my mind works when I’m deciding what puzzle comes next. I can purchase a puzzle new, be excited about it and look forward to putting it together, but can put it off for months or even years because it just isn’t the right time. I have to be in the right mood, but there’s no way for me to explain what constitutes the right combination of time and mood – I don’t even know! I love quilt puzzles, but for some reason it took me more than two years to get this puzzle done because the time and mood weren’t right until now. 🤷‍♀️

It’s beautiful image by Eric Dowdle and his symmetrical style makes for truly fun but challenging puzzles. The image reproduction was gorgeous, and the overall quality was very good. The offset grid cut made it a little more difficult, but it kept me engrossed and involved – keeping my mind off the stresses and frustrations of the world.

Quilting Country 1

The chicken in the mailbox made me laugh! It’s something you don’t notice when looking at the entire picture, but a closer look shows some more humor and fun.

Quilting Country 2

Love this quilt! The colors and the pattern are beautiful, but really all of the quilts are.

Quilting Country 3

If you notice there are a lot of kids eating watermelon in this image, and there are even watermelons in this quilt. Again, it’s something you don’t notice until you’re studying patterns while putting together the pieces.

I’ve always had an appreciation for quilters and their ability to combine patterns and colors in such a beautiful way. I don’t think I have the artistic chops to be able to do that, combining different fabric patterns like they do. It’s amazing to me and I wish I had that talent; I don’t, so I’ll just have to be content with assembling beautiful quilt puzzles instead. 🧩😉🧩

Air Mail

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments
Air Mail
Air Mail – Re-marks – 500 pieces

As per my usual with all collages, I adored this one. Thank goodness I stocked myself up on my beloved collages before lockdown went into effect, they make my little puzzling heart very happy. 💗

I was having a great time with the assembly from the beginning, but it started to go together a little too quickly for my taste. It wasn’t that it was too easy, it was just too much fun! So I put the box away and worked it with no reference; it made the fun last a bit longer and made me pretty proud when I finished it too.

Re-marks and White Mountain have the best catalogs of collage puzzles around in my opinion. For my money, the image reproduction is much better on Re-marks puzzles, but White Mountain has a much bigger catalog of images to choose from. They both have the occasional difficulties with quality problems with the cut and/or fit of their puzzles, but in general they are both good companies that put out good quality jigsaws. (Honestly though, unless they were complete trash I would still buy their collages, I’m hooked and they make me unbelievably happy!)

Air Mail 1

This stamp looks almost exactly like a puzzle I did about 3 years ago! All it’s missing is the wording; Woodstock was an awesome looking image, but an extremely difficult puzzle. Although, without the wording it would have been even more of a challenge.

Air Mail 2

This stamp makes me extremely happy. Not only is it very pretty, it’s my home state. I miss it sometimes, especially in the fall and at Christmastime. At the moment Michigan is being overrun with the coronavirus, so I’m praying that my family and friends still there, and really all the Michiganders remain safe and healthy.

In addition to having a great time assembling this puzzle, it led me to a tip to share with you all. Running low on puzzles? Wishing they could last longer? I stretched this puzzle out an extra day by putting away the box image and just using the pieces and colors. Don’t be afraid to make it a little more challenging, if you feel like you’re in the weeds or you’re just not enjoying it as much you can always pull out the image again. But you just might enjoy the added obstacle, you never know until you try!

Journal Newbies?

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling12 Comments
Fuzzy Friends 2
Are you new around here?

My Jigsaw Journal has been getting much more traffic than normal in the past few weeks, with more views and more visitors than ever before. People all over the world are spending a bit of their “extra” time assembling puzzles, and it seems as though a few have found their way to this puzzle blog. Welcome!  I’m so pleased to have you here. 🙂

Some of you may be looking for more information on puzzles and puzzling in general, and perhaps some have become more passionate about jigsaw puzzles and are looking for more of a community; you’ve all come to the right place!

I wanted to take this opportunity to let everyone know that comments, questions, observations, and general chit chat are all welcome here. If there’s any question you have about puzzles, even if you think it may be too basic or general, ask away! We were all newbies once, and we all know how it feels.

If you’d rather stay in the background and just be a “lurker”, that’s ok too, you are welcome to visit only and I’m glad you’re here. If you have questions, need help with a puzzle problem, or just want to talk puzzles – we’ve got that covered too. Most of my followers and readers are afflicted with PADS ; we all love to talk about, look at, read about, shop for, and assemble puzzles as much as possible. We’re always ready to welcome more of you into the fold. 😵 “One of us….one of us….” 😵

As long as you are respectful and kind, I will do my best to answer any question you have. I respond to every comment here on the blog, and love being able to talk to my puzzle posse about anything and *everything, but most especially about jigsaw puzzles. Welcome to My Jigsaw Journal!

*No politics allowed here, it’s too divisive – we puzzle people like to put things together not tear them apart!

Cheerios

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments
Cheerios
Cheerios – White Mountain – 100 pieces

These mini puzzles are so much fun, I’m sad that they’re coming to an end. After this one there are only two left. I don’t normally buy multipack puzzles, but this one was too much fun to resist. 🥣

The quality is much better than my last multipack of 100 piece puzzles; so far all the pieces have been there and each box contains the correct image! See? It’s possible to take care with your manufacturing and quality control and do things properly. Well done White Mountain!

Cheerios isn’t a favorite, but it’s a staple when there are small children around. They’re the perfect size for little fingers to grab and eat, it’s easy to take with you, and it is relatively healthy. When I was growing up and having cereal for breakfasts, I only liked eating Cheerios if you put sugar on it. Lots of sugar.

I know not everyone has the same palate and many people don’t care for the amount of sweetness we Americans do; but I’m here to tell you that when I put sugar on my cereal, I put SUGAR on my cereal! And when you were finished and got to the end of the bowl, there was a heap of sugar on the bottom. This was only when my mom wasn’t hanging around the breakfast table of course, if she was there she didn’t allow the pouring on of great amounts of sugar. You could put a couple of spoonfuls on, and that’s it.

This was pre-Honey Nut Cheerios of course, I’m old enough to remember a time when Cheerios only came in the original flavor. Back in the olden days there was no multi-grain, blueberry, oat crunch, or honey nut flavors – just plain old Cheerios. I must really be old!

It’s a wonder my ancient fingers are still able to pick up puzzle pieces, isn’t it?