Tag: 500 pieces

Peanuts – Day 1

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

Peanuts by Charles Schulz – RoseArt – approx. 125/500 pieces

Lucy, Schroeder, and Woodstock, just hanging out together. Just a fun afternoon of classical music and Lucy’s unrequited love for Schroeder. Very cute.

This puzzle was a gift from hubby for Mother’s Day – he’s a sweetie and I love him to puzzle pieces. Unfortunately, this was the first time I was disappointed in any of these sets; the quality was subpar which made the assembly both frustrating and unsatisfying.

I’ve never had a problem with the quality of these sets of smaller shaped puzzles, perhaps this may be pandemic related. Many puzzle companies started having their manufacturing done in China when the demand for puzzles was sky high during all the lockdowns. The quality went down (in my opinion) for several companies, and maybe this “made in China” puzzle was one of the ones that didn’t get as much attention as it should have.

First of all, there is a missing piece; I am 99% certain it is not my fault. Poor Woodstock seems to have had a rough trip to the barber shop – he’s missing a big chunk of hair! Secondly, the fit of this puzzle was TERRIBLE; it was both extremely loose and “mushy”. Many times you couldn’t tell if the piece was placed correctly even when it was obviously the right one.

Loose fitting, mushy connections and missing pieces – how very very disappointing.

Sweet Treats In Progress

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling6 Comments

Sweet Treats by Tatiana – Buffalo – 500 pieces

My youngest has decided he is now the driving force behind what puzzles I assemble, and unless I can make a decision when he’s not here or when he’s sleeping then he’s picking what’s next. There is some veto power that I can wield, but for the most part I allow him to find the next puzzle because it makes him happy – what a cool mom I am! 😇

So this is the puzzle chosen for me, and I have to say it was a fabulous choice. The previous puzzle was a 1000 piece White Mountain of less than stellar quality that really had me frustrated at times; the image reproduction was awful, there were hanging chads everywhere and many pieces were not cut all the way through.

But ahhhh… this puzzle is like a refreshing drink of water after chewing on a combination of sand and aluminum foil – the quality is excellent and it’s washing the awful taste of that subpar puzzle out of my mouth and making me very, very happy indeed.

All the candy in the middle will be a bit of a challenge, mostly because I’ve put away the box and am not using the poster for any help. I’m enjoying the puzzle so much that I don’t want to rush through it.

If it takes me a bit longer that’s alright with me, I’m in no hurry.

Portrait of a Quilt

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

Portrait of a Quilt by Helen Klebesadel – Cobble Hill – 500 pieces

Once I actually opened the box for this puzzle and saw the pieces it had to be next. An explanation wouldn’t really make sense, it just had to be the next one on my board, and I’m so glad it was.

The larger pieces of this puzzle, the bright colors and interesting patterns – it made for excellent, entertaining puzzling and I adored it with every single piece I placed. ❤

Excellent Cobble Hill quality; the linen pieces felt amazing in my hands, and the fit was near perfect. The image reproduction is stunning, and I cannot recommend this puzzle enough!

I hope whatever puzzle you’re working on right now is as much fun as this one was. Happy puzzling my friends! 🧩

What’s Puzzling…

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling4 Comments

Cozy Bathroom by Olga – Ravensburger – 500 pieces

I’ve only done a couple puzzles with artwork by Olga, and both of them have had only kittens/cats in them – how delightful to have this adorable puppy in this image! How could you resist that sweet face?

Yesterday I had only started on the sorting of this puzzle, but spent most of the day in bed. Luckily (not really), I was up and at the puzzle board at 3 am; so it’s now completely sorted and there is actual assembly going on.🧩

Insomnia is not great for me personally, but it is good for giving me plenty of quiet time to puzzle with no one asking questions or expecting anything of me. It’s also good for making sure there are plenty of puzzles in the queue to be posted – there is much more time for me to puzzle if sleep doesn’t interfere much.

There’s no need to worry about having enough puzzles to get through our upcoming trip, there will be plenty ready to go before we even leave. There will even be enough completed to have a cushion of a couple of days after we return – time for me to get back into the groove of puzzles and posting. I’ll be taking some smaller wooden puzzles and my computer with me, of course, but it’s nice to have a big enough queue of completed puzzles that there’s no worry about keeping up. 😎

To Fetch or Not to Fetch

On By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

To Fetch or Not to Fetch by John Cuneo – NY Puzzle Co. – 500 pieces

I like the image of this New Yorker cover, although the painterly style sometimes made for a more challenging assembly. It’s a well made puzzle, good quality – but it isn’t for beginners.

The border of this one needed a big straw (it sucked) – but only on the side with the black stripe. It was so dark, and a couple of pieces seemed to fit where they did not belong; that’s one thing I despise in a puzzle, I like to know when a piece fits that it’s the correct one. Several pieces that fit perfectly in the same space is so annoying!

Otherwise this was an entertaining assembly, there was a LOT of grass, but there’s enough shading, etc. so it didn’t seem too insurmountable.

This is what it looked like once I’d put in every piece that had something other than green – the rest were all shades of green. Not much fun, but once it was finished I was glad I kept at it. Yay me!