Category: Jigsaw Puzzling

Untitled In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

Untitled – Unknown – 150 pieces

I was waiting on a Puzzle Fairy delivery yesterday, so I didn’t want to start any larger piece count puzzles. A micro puzzle is always good for a good time, so this untitled puzzle from an unknown manufacturer seemed like an excellent choice – an adorable puppy face is almost always sure to make me smile, and there are several adorable puppy faces in this one. (Plus, there’s that sweet Boston Terrier in the corner, how in the world can I be expected to pass that up?) 🐾🧡

This way I was still able to put some puzzle pieces together yesterday to center and relax me, but whatever puzzle will be my next inspiration won’t have to wait long at all for me to finish this little guy and have the board ready for more pieces.

Wish I knew where these mini puzzles came from, but honestly there are no clues whatsoever in this aging brain of mine.

*The puzzles arrived, but it was later in the afternoon and I wasn’t even able to open them until this morning. So many puzzles and so much inspiration – thank you Puzzle Fairy! 💚🧚‍♀️

Quilting Bee

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Quilting Bee by Kay Lamb Shannon – Bits & Pieces – 300 pieces (Large Pieces)

Love this country/Americana image, and although it was entertaining it wasn’t great. I was hoping to enjoy it more, perhaps the problem is my expectations. There was nothing wrong with the quality or the image, it just wasn’t what I wanted unfortunately.

Bits & Pieces is a company whose quality isn’t my taste, but I will buy them if I like the image and can find them secondhand. In my post about this puzzle while it was in progress I talked about keeping “tools” in my purse for thrift store shopping, and how I opened this box to find that each puzzle in the multipack was bagged separately and had it’s own image printed out. It had definitely been well cared for, so I took a chance. I paid $3.99 for four 300 piece puzzles, not bad at all! All of the images in this multipack were cute country images, ones I probably wouldn’t buy on their own but in a multipack of smaller piece counts they’re perfect for me, and the artwork of Kay Lamb Shannon is detailed and beautiful. It was an excellent find.

I’m not really a fan of this cut, it’s almost circular and makes for many pieces that are almost triangular. I have no reason to not like it other than just my own personal preference. Everyone is different. I love a truly random cut puzzle, and I enjoy both grid and ribbon cut as well; this one though, I am just NOT a fan.

I saved the quilt for the last bit of assembly, I love to assemble quilts! Again, I have no real reason I can come up with, I just do. No apologies, no excuses – I like what I like.

This little puzzle was enjoyable, and other than the glare from the finish the quality was very good. It was a very nice palate cleanser after a 1000 piece puzzle, and before I start another larger piece count. That’s exactly what I have those smaller puzzles for, and this one certainly did it’s job. 😉

Peacock and Pattern In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Peacock and Pattern by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 508 pieces

No, I haven’t made today alliteration day, I’ve decided to work on a gorgeous Liberty wooden puzzle to try to get out of this funk I find myself in. Peacock, pattern, progress – pure puzzle pleasure in perfect proportion! So far it seems to be helping, let’s hope it stays that way.

Another beautiful image by Jane Tattersfield, she was the artist on another Liberty puzzle I assembled and LOVED from over eight years ago – Birds. I knew the minute I saw this one that it would also be great fun, and so far it has been. I adore images that aren’t the usual puzzle go-to subjects; hot air balloons, kittens, landscapes, Coca-Cola Santa, etc. When they’re out of the ordinary that immediately makes me stop and take notice, and this one is perfect for me.

Normally with these puzzles you don’t start with the edges, but this image has a border that was easy to pick out and that’s where I began. It naturally flowed from there into the yellow patterns, and I’m still working on getting all of them in place – or at least close to it. When I was working on it yesterday I found myself ignoring everything (husband, children, laundry timers, bodily requirements like food, water, etc.) in pursuit of just… one… more… piece…

It’s a very good thing for your mental health to get into that meditative state where the puzzle is the only thing on your mind. What shape do I need? Do these colors match? Where should this one go? I’m praying a couple of days working on this stunning puzzle with it’s bright, glorious colors and amazingly shaped wooden pieces will continue to help improve my mental health and maybe help get me back to my usual puzzle nirvana.

I took my computer off the puzzle (yes, I put it right on top of whatever puzzle I’m assembling when I’m working on the blog) once I was done typing up this post, and really looked at it while sitting far back in my puzzling chair. The angle, the depth of the wooden pieces, it was/is absolutely gorgeous. I had to take another picture from that angle to show you, isn’t this a beautiful puzzle?!

Happy puzzling today my friends. Namaste. 🧩🙏

Dog Lovers In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Miscellaneous8 Comments

Dog Lovers by Anderson Design Group – MasterPieces – 1000 pieces

There hasn’t been too much work on this one, unfortunately. It’s been a rough week for me and I’m just hanging on and doing the best I can. Most of the week has been spent in bed, and yesterday wasn’t much different. I did make myself get in front of a puzzle though, because I knew I needed a puzzle to show you for today’s post. I’ll get my mojo back, I’m sure. I just need some rest.

This is post number 2000 here on My Jigsaw Journal. Can you believe it?!? Me neither! I should have gotten here a few years ago, but I’m known to take a break or two (sometimes for more than a year at a time). That’s alright, all good things happen in their own time, don’t they?

I wish I had something other than an in progress post for you today, but I don’t. There weren’t any plans to commemorate post 2000 and by the time I realized it there wasn’t time to plan much so I figured it would just be like any other day.

When you think about it though, the time it takes to write up that many blog posts – my goodness, I should be so proud of myself! (If you knew how many times I go back over them before posting to be sure there aren’t spelling or grammatical mistakes, you’d ask me if I was currently being medicated for my OCD *I’m not*)

Happy 2000th post to My Jigsaw Journal, and happy puzzling to us all! 🧩💚

Embroidery Table In Progress…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling, Thrift Store Puzzles8 Comments

Embroidery Table by Andrew Farley – Milton Bradley (Big Ben) – 1000 pieces

I’m currently working on this gorgeous tableau of embroidery supplies, and all I can think about is how much mom would have loved this puzzle. I didn’t consciously plan it, but this is the puzzle I’m working on today – the seventh anniversary of her passing. How can it seem as if I just lost her yesterday and also that she’s been gone for way too long?

I found this beauty at the thrift store a month or so ago, and I’m hoping it’s complete because it really reminds me of my awesome momma; it was bagged inside the box, so there’s reason to think it may have all the pieces. The quality is fair, about the usual for a Milton Bradley puzzle, but the image reproduction is fabulous. The colors are bright and crisp, and everything looks as it should. Mom would have loved to have glued and framed this one for her craft room, of that I am sure.

It’s going really well, and I found myself getting out of bed last night when I couldn’t sleep just to sit in front of it and put a few pieces in – one of the clues that tells you how much fun the image is. There are only three trays of pieces left and I’ve gotten used to every single one. I know where things should go and I’m familiar with every shape and color so why can’t I just be left alone so I can sit in the puzzle room till it’s finished? I’m tired of taking breaks!

Most certainly this one will be finished today, I’m just not sure what to do with it once it’s finished. I could box it up and re-donate it to the local Goodwill. But I’m thinking I might want to host a giveaway with it in honor of my crafty momma who loved making things, assembling puzzles, and finding bargains at thrift stores – but I don’t even know if all the pieces are present and accounted for.

If it’s complete would anyone be interested in winning this gently used thrift store puzzle? It’s a gorgeous image and so far has been extremely entertaining to assemble.

We all miss you mom, more than words can express. 💔