Quilts

On June 1, 2020June 1, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

Quilt puzzles make me happy, and this image was different than the norm. A stack of folded quilts doesn’t sound like an interesting image, but put them in the right order and it’s a beautiful little piece of artwork.

Cobble Hill puzzles are very good quality, and although I enjoy all of the different sizes and piece counts, their puzzles with large pieces are highly entertaining for me. Thankfully they are not a company that has only one piece shape, and are one of the few companies that use a truly random cut that makes an otherwise simplistic image more engaging.

I loved this puzzle from the first piece to the last, and would definitely recommend it. 💜

Snail Mail In Progress

On May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling2 Comments

Snail Mail IP — Snail Mail – Re-marks – 300 pieces

Back to the puzzle room and back to my puzzle board. FINALLY.

On Tuesday evening, after receiving a care package of puzzles from my dear friend Penny, I finally got myself motivated to get back to my puzzles.

Having had to stop my strongest pain medication about 3 weeks ago, I was only able to sit long enough to sort and assemble the edges, but it was progress. Finally. Yesterday I wasn’t able to sit up for any length of time at all, and didn’t touch any puzzle pieces all day, but I’m hopeful that I can be back there today.

Puzzling, for me, helps me to relax, de-stress, and actually assists me in dealing with the chronic pain of my injury. My mind becomes laser focused on the pieces, the shapes, the colors, and the patterns; and somehow pushes the recognition of the pain to the side, if only for a little while.

I’m glad I finally got my butt in gear and got back to my beloved puzzles, and I hope to be back to them again today. They are helpful in dealing with stress, anxiety, pain, and much more. It’s like meditation – focusing on puzzle pieces only, and pushing thoughts of everything else from your mind.

For me, they are necessary. And I’m glad there’s a puzzle on my table now; it needs assembling, and I’m just the gal to get it done. 😎

Cereal Boxes

On May 20, 2020May 19, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

I had a really good time with this one – as is usual for almost all collages – and insomnia helped to make sure that it was assembled in less than 24 hours. It certainly helps me get more puzzling done, but I’m not sure it’s great for my health. 😐

The piece quality was very good on this puzzle; thickness, shapes, and fit were all quite nice. The image reproduction though, wasn’t the best. There was quite a bit of fuzziness on many of the cereal boxes. It seems to be a recurring problem with White Mountain collage puzzles, but I still buy them because they make me happy to assemble them, fuzzy spots or no.

Cereal Boxes 1

What in the world is this cereal doing in a collage of fun cereals? This is your parent’s and grandparent’s cereal! If I had to eat this there would be so much fruit and sugar on it that it would be obscene. Yikes.

Cereal Boxes 2

Kix was the only cereal shown with 3 separate boxes. This was my favorite of the three, but it definitely isn’t my favorite of the cereals. I remember being younger and mom buying this cereal and we were not happy about it. To me it was so boring and tasteless, it was like chewing on little round puffs of styrofoam. Blech! When my kids were younger and we were on assistance, I remember that this was one of the few cereals you were allowed to buy for them. They had to be relatively healthy with as little sugar as possible, and I always opted to buy the Chex cereals for the kids instead, they were much better tasting if you ask me.

Cereal Boxes 3

This is one of my favorites, probably tied with Lucky Charms in the number two spot. Graham Cracker cereal – yum! (My favorite isn’t a General Mills cereal, so it’s nowhere to be found in this puzzle).

All in all I adored this puzzle, not only was it fun to assemble it brought back great childhood memories for me. 🥣💗

Road Trip

On May 14, 2020May 14, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles6 Comments

This one was waaay too much fun! You all know how much I enjoy a collage, so it won’t be a surprise to anyone that I had the best time with this one. Love, love, loved it❣

Re-marks isn’t a premium brand in my mind, but I’m not a complete puzzle snob and do not ever hesitate to buy one of their puzzles. They have such a great variety of collages in their catalog that I just can’t help myself. It’s a sickness. One I don’t apologize for. Ever.

The pieces are a good thickness, they fit together well, there’s a really nice variety of pieces and a random cut that makes the assembly interesting. Normally the image reproduction is very good, but I’ve had the odd problem – it doesn’t stop me from continuing to buy their puzzles though. There is not ONE puzzle company, premium or not, that I haven’t had at least one problem with. Manufacturing is never perfect and I don’t expect perfection from anyone.

Road Trip 1

Who remembers when the Disneyland sign used to look like this? I do. I’m old. Any of my fellow oldsters remember The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights? The whole family sat down to watch tv together; no cussing, no sex scenes, no nip slips or wardrobe malfunctions, no kids staring at their phones (which would have been REALLY weird, our phones only made phone calls and almost all phones were connected to the wall), just good family entertainment. Do I sound like an old person? I feel like one.

Road Trip 2

I just love this one, I have no idea which state this represents but I just love the look of it. Cowgirl power!

I’m still feeling like death on toast, but thankfully I have a couple weeks worth of puzzles in the queue to keep on posting till I make it back FULLY to the puzzle table. I hope you all are staying safe and healthy, and having a great time with your puzzles. 💗🧩

Quilts In Progress

On May 9, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzling8 Comments

Quilts IP — Quilts – Cobble Hill – 500 pieces

Yesterday was an awful day, and I didn’t even get started on this one until last night. I made a bit of progress before I ended up going to bed though, it’s looking pretty good!

Quilts are a funny thing, there are many fabrics that I wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole, but you put them into a quilt and they look perfectly normal. Great even! Does anyone else feel that way?

As I was laying out the pieces and looking at some of the patterns and colors, I thought to myself “That is the ugliest fabric!”, and “Ugh, that is a hideous color.”. But you put them together with other fabrics and they seem to make sense, and even become part of a beautiful pattern.

Oh well, I suppose beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. 😍