Common Quilt Blocks

On March 19, 2020March 19, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles10 Comments

I ADORED this puzzle – it was so much fun! Cobble Hill quality is excellent, and I enjoyed the random cut of the pieces and the beautiful colors. The fabrics were so interesting too, a lot of them would make ugly clothes but they do make lovely quilt blocks. 😉

Cobble Hill has such a great catalog of puzzle images, after assembling this one the PADS is flaring up and I want to get a whole bunch more of their puzzles. I love the feel of the pieces and the way they fit together – just a great quality puzzle all around. Someone needs to take my credit cards for a day or two, I’m feeling the need for some new puzzles!

Quilt Blocks 1

Great name to go with a great fabric pattern. I loved that all the quilt block patterns have names, and I found that it helped quite a bit with the assembly.

And of course I loved these two patterns because they had the word puzzle in their names! Old Maid’s Puzzle and Dutchman’s Puzzle, obviously they are my favorites. 😁

And now I have this burning desire to find and assemble every single quilt block puzzle there is – and I know there are quite a few. I enjoyed this one so much that it leaves me wanting more. Quilts and quilt blocks make for highly entertaining puzzles, at least they do for me. Perhaps it’s the neat, orderly rows and the fact that they’re put in some kind of order; it may be soothing for my OCD.

Whatever the reason, I’d love to get my hands on some more quilt block puzzles. I highly recommend you give this one a try, it was too much fun! 💝

Got More Time to Puzzle? 1000 Piece Puzzle Giveaway!

On March 18, 2020March 18, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling24 Comments

With the Coronavirus taking hold across the globe, people around the world are finding that they have much more time on their hands. With “shelter in place” orders, people being encouraged to work from home if possible, needing to care for children who are no longer in school, and people being asked to quarantine themselves at home – we all seem to have more time than we normally do for more sedentary pursuits.

It will be no surprise that I’m encouraging everyone to try working on jigsaw puzzles with some of their extra time; you might find that not only is it an extremely enjoyable pastime, but that it also helps to relieve some of the stress and anxiety that most of us are feeling these days. My regular readers know that I’m constantly emphasizing that jigsaw puzzles are not only entertaining, but actually good for both your physical and mental well-being.

Did you know that assembling jigsaw puzzles can help lower your blood pressure, relieve anxiety and stress, improve your mood, help you to deal with chronic pain, and even increase your IQ? These are just a few of the health benefits one gets from puzzling – there are many, many more. Most important of all in these troubled times is that puzzles can take our minds off of the day-to-day burdens and worries that we are all carrying and allow us to relax. Couldn’t we all use a bit more relaxation, stress relief, and improved health these days?

To that end I’ve moved up the timing of my next puzzle giveaway. It was just last month that My Jigsaw Journal gave away a lovely 500 piece Milton Bradley puzzle, and the plan was to hold another giveaway for Mother’s Day at the beginning of May. We all could use some cheering up, so instead of a few months down the road I am holding a new giveaway right now. 🙂

Christmas at Hogwarts is a 1000 piece puzzle by the New York Puzzle Company with artwork by Mary GrandPre, unopened and still shrink-wrapped. It looks colorful and fun, but a little bit challenging too! Would you like a chance to win this puzzle? Wouldn’t it be nice to spend some of your free time at home assembling this beautiful image?

This giveaway is open to everyone, and all you have to do is leave a comment on today’s post to be entered. Every comment/entry will be given a number, a random number generator will choose the winner and the results will be posted one week from today, Wednesday, March 25, 2020.

Stay home, stay healthy, and stay safe my friends. 💖

Good luck, and Happy Puzzling!

Vintage Tin Toys

On March 14, 2020March 13, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

My beautiful daughter bought me this puzzle for no reason other than she saw it at the store and thought I would love it. She was right – and sweeter than sugar!

It was a pretty challenging assembly, but I absolutely adored it. Such bright colors and interesting toys, not to mention an excellent quality puzzle. The fit was a bit loose, but otherwise the pieces were thick with varied shapes, and the image reproduction was beautiful! I haven’t done many 1000 piece Milton Bradley puzzles, but I was happily surprised at the quality of this one. If we find more amazing images like this one, I hope to be doing more of them very soon!

Wow, they certainly didn’t mind unconventional toys back in the day, huh? A bartender toy for a child? This actually made me laugh out loud! I wonder what the mechanism made the little tin bartender do? A toy that pours and serves little drinks? Wow. Just, wow.

Vintage Tin Toys 2

This is silly, a tin chicken – but I suppose who am I to judge right? I didn’t even realize this was in the puzzle because the stupid people who designed the puzzle box decided to put a banner over this portion of it. When I realized what the pieces were and set them aside, I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like all put together. A silly chicken!

Vintage Tin Toys 3

Ventriloquist dummies must have been all the rage, I love how fun and silly these toys are! Perhaps a young boy or girl wouldn’t care what it said on the side of it, they would most likely be happy with any toy car. Still, this one gave me a chuckle.

Sometimes it amazes me that a box full of hundreds of pieces of cut up cardboard or wood pictures could bring me so much joy – but they absolutely do. But it isn’t only joy – serenity, smiles, laughs, concentration, fixation, obsession, happiness, sadness, exhilaration, peace, victory, pride, and too many more to name. Puzzles are a gift to ourselves and our minds, and I, for one, intend to keep on giving. 🧩💖

Mansfield Air Spectacular

On March 13, 2020March 13, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I had a fantastic time with this puzzle; it was great fun to assemble, the image by Charles Wysocki was excellent, and it had the usual outstanding Buffalo quality – it was one of those all around wonderful puzzles. Though it was a bit more challenging that I’d assumed; that sky took much more time than I thought. Yikes!

There have been many, many Buffalo puzzles that I’ve assembled, and I can’t recall ever having a major quality issue with any of them. The pieces are thick, fit together well, and there are a very good variety of piece shapes. The image reproduction is stellar, and in general they are an excellent quality puzzle that I never have any hesitation in purchasing.

Mansfield 2

The stands where the people sat were great fun to do, so many arms, legs, etc. I found it to be quite enjoyable, and a bit more difficult if you don’t look at the box.

Mansfield 1

Love that all the pilots were women! Once I started sorting pieces and saw that the faces were all female I said out loud (to no one) “Props to the ladies!”. 👩‍✈️💪 Yes indeed, I talk to myself and my puzzles while I’m assembling them; I am not ashamed to admit it.

I’m enjoying Buffalo puzzles in the larger piece counts much more than I used to, and even find them soothing for some reason that I can’t quite put into words. They’re wonderful quality and have a large and varied catalog of images to choose from. If you haven’t tried a Buffalo puzzle before, give them a go – they even have these fun zig-zag shaped pieces that no one else does – sometimes it makes it easier, and sometimes it does not.

Mansfield Air Spectacular was a great time in a small box. Puzzles Rock! 😎

Window Shoppers

On March 2, 2020March 2, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

There’s something really compelling about this image, but putting it into words seems to be a bit difficult for me at the moment. I can’t exactly explain why, but seeing this image took my breath away, and I just had to have it. Good thing too, because the assembly was completely entertaining!

The colors are so beautiful, the quality was excellent, and all-around this was a wonderful puzzle.

Shoppers 1

I love this lady and her manservant, looking at it makes me smile. She’s carrying the tiniest of boxes, and he can barely see over the stack he’s loaded up with. 🙂

Shoppers 2

In this group of ladies I would absolutely be the one in jeans. I wanted to be the cute girl in pretty skirts, but it never seemed to work out that way.

Shoppers 3

This section was quite entertaining to assemble. The colors of the glass windows stood out, as did the bricks. It was the right amount of challenging, and for other reasons I can’t explain putting together these buildings was great fun.

I seem to have a limited vocabulary this morning, and can’t explain why I enjoyed this puzzle so much. All I know is that I loved putting it together.

Perhaps that’s all I really need to know. 🙂