What’s the Temperature?

On April 25, 2020April 25, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

It will be no surprise to anyone that I had a fantastic time with this puzzle. I love collages, but the downside of them is that they are over too quickly because I can’t seem to walk away. Even if I sit in the chair at my puzzle table until the pain makes me stop, I end up resting for only a little while because I just have to get back to it!

This thrift store puzzle was complete, which isn’t something I can say about every puzzle bought second-hand. It was well loved, and it looks as though it’s been assembled several times; many of the tabs had the image lifting off from repeated assembly and disassembly. Otherwise, it was still in relatively good condition.

What's the Temperature 1

This made me smile, you almost need a magnifying glass to read it, but between the degrees of temperature it tells you why you should go fishing. At the colder end it says “Oh yay! Pre-frozen fish”, “Frozen worms aren’t slimy”, and “Wouldn’t sweat if we fished today”. At the warmer end it says “We fish, we get a tan, what d’ya say?”, “Too hot for anything but fishing”, and something like “Get the fish pre-baked today”. I’m not one for fishing, but I think this may be the cutest thermometer I’ve ever seen.

What's the Temperature 2

Looks to me like this is some sort of “snake oil” medication, but it makes for a cool looking thermometer. My son says “Dr.” Ramon looks like the Monopoly Man. 😄

What's the Temperature 3

You can see above many of the tabs with the image sticking up. It’s a thrift store puzzle that has been assembled before – you can’t say how many times – and there’s quite a bit of image lift on this puzzle. It makes the end of puzzle “massage” a little less satisfying; you can feel them sticking up and you have to try not to rip any of the image off while it’s getting it’s rubdown.

And when’s the last time anyone heard of Ken-L Ration dog food? Looooong time!

I started this one in the morning and finished before bedtime. Perhaps I need to see if I can find some 2000 piece collages – are there any of those out there? I’m sure there aren’t right now, but once we’re able to find puzzles again I’d love to get my hands on two or three — or twenty-seven of them. 😇

Mill Cottage In Progress

On April 18, 2020April 18, 2020 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 April 17, 2020April 17, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

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. 🧩😉🧩

Thank You Easter Bunny!

On April 12, 2020April 12, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling10 Comments

Temperature IP — What’s the Temperature? by Lois B. Sutton – White Mountain – 1000 pieces

I didn’t get a basket full of Easter eggs and candy, but look what the Easter Bunny DID bring me – an empty puzzle board so I can get back to the thing that lifts my spirits and keeps me a little more sane. Thank you Easter Bunny! 🐰

Now that’s more like it! This is what my puzzle board is supposed to look like; it’s usually a bit more chaotic with trays and pieces everywhere, but when there’s a puzzle on the board then I am definitely much happier! (Just ask my family, I’ve been a bit grouchy without my puzzles)

Now that I’m back to it, I will hopefully be a little easier to be quarantined with. I have PADS, and my mental health and level of happiness is directly tied to my puzzles; it’s a very good thing that I have my puzzle room back, with an empty (of sewing materials) puzzle board full of possibilities.

Whatever you celebrate – I hope you’re observing your respective holidays at home, to keep yourselves and others safe. Happy Easter, Passover, Ramadan, or whatever holiday you observe. If you don’t observe any holidays this month, Happy Sunday!

Stay home, stay safe, happy puzzling! 🧩

Vintage Holiday

On April 11, 2020April 11, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

It was the colors that drew me to this puzzle, they were just too fun and happy to resist. I’m glad to say that I had a great time with this one, and it had just the right level of difficulty. It’s a fun image with fantastic image reproduction – all in all a wonderful puzzle!

Although it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, it was by no means an easy puzzle. But the challenge was completely absorbing and I loved it. The pieces were thinner than I’m used to, but still quite workable with an exceptional fit. I don’t think I’ve done a Big Ben puzzle with 1000 pieces for quite a long time, and I was pretty happy with the quality.

Vintage Holiday 1

Loved the look of these two magazines, they were one of the first sections that I assembled – old time detective mags, very cool!

Vintage Holiday 2

Here is an article from obviously a very old magazine; it seems to be saying that if your husband cheats that you’re driving him to it because you aren’t meeting his “needs”. Are you friggin kidding me?!? What a load of crap. Most people probably wouldn’t notice it, it’s only 4 pieces out of 1000, but I certainly did.

Vintage Holiday 3

This postcard section was really fun to put together, but I’m not sure I could explain why – it was just truly entertaining. The postcards and sunglasses made for great puzzling. Or perhaps I need to get out more, I’d much rather assemble a beach puzzle than go to an actual beach. Sand everywhere – yick!

With all that’s going on in the world now, going to the beach is most definitely not a good idea; all you can do is dream of going to the beach- or perhaps assemble an entertaining beach themed puzzle! 🙂