It’s funny how when you’re sitting working on a puzzle, it is hard to see the whole image. You see missing pieces, the general shape and color of pieces you should be looking for and you sort of see where things are heading. But when you take a picture and look at it from a distance and different perspective it seems so much more complete than you realize.
I had a tough time today finding pieces to attach, and also being able to sit down very much and for very long to work on it. The coach was relatively easy to do, but after that was finished I was kind of stuck. Couldn’t find the pieces I was looking for and couldn’t decide what to do next. I ended up just taking trays of pieces into my bedroom and working on finding matches within certain colors regardless of where they fit into the puzzle. Spent a lot of time laying in bed, working occasionally with the pieces.
Almost all of the horse is finished along with the coach, and I was also able to get some background done around the footman and get him attached to the horse. I’m always happy and feel more accomplished when I can attach small sections together. Tomorrow I may take the plunge and try to get going on the rest of Cinderella herself. I’m trying to do some of the more difficult parts first so I am not left with just the challenge of piecing together everything that’s dark or twinkly.
It’s only been 3 days, but even though I was stuck for a while today and it seemed as if I had to concentrate more, I am still very much enjoying this puzzle. I hope that doesn’t wear off!
It’s moving alone pretty well, got a lot done today in little bits here and there. Our fairy godmother is almost completely done and looking very cute, and most of the horse’s reins are done along with part of the horse! I didn’t spend any time on Cinderella herself, but her dress is going to be quite big. Godmother looks pretty big, but when you look at the picture of the whole section she is off to the side and behind Cinderella, who takes up almost half of the front section of the image. As you can see by comparing the images above and below I don’t have the completed pieces where they belong in the puzzle; for now they are where I need them to work comfortably. Once more is completed they will move towards their proper places.
I’m not sure where I’ll start working tomorrow, I guess it depends on which colors or pieces speak to me when I start working. I may start on the film reel if nothing else jumps out at me, but I also kind of want to save that till I’m feeling stuck or overwhelmed with what is left to do. I’m not sure if I want to start working on her dress yet, or if I should save that for when I get more of the background done. Basically this whole paragraph was me saying I have no idea where I go from here. 🙂
I overdid today, and hope I will be feeling well enough to spend lots of time working on it tomorrow. Here’s hoping! Once I get started I just want to keep going and make as much progress as possible. I did NOT enjoy my break time between finishing Snow White and beginning Cinderella, what I really wanted to was to start the next section immediately. Not sure if that will wear off after I have completed a few sections, or if each new movie cell brings just as much enthusiasm as the previous ones. Time will tell (and I’m looking forward to finding out).
I finally was able to get Snow White off the board and safely sandwiched between 2 large pieces of cardboard. She will be residing under my bed until we are ready to assemble the entire puzzle.
Therefore, I have finally begun the next section – Cinderella! I worked a little bit on trays this morning before I went to spend the day with my mom, and the rest of it I did this evening after my husband and I cleared off the board. It doesn’t look like much in the picture, but that is 250 pieces already assembled 🙂 All the flesh on everyone is done; the footman and the driver’s face and hands, the fairy godmother’s face and hands along with part of her cloak, and Cinderella’s face and chest. I was also able to put together most of the door and the spire on the coach, and some of the horse’s reins and harness. Not too shabby for the first day!
I’ve been wanting to get back to work on this, and I’m so glad I was finally able to. I actually feel better now that I’ve gotten going again. And unbelievably, I’m actually looking forward to assembling the film reel! It was intimidating when I saw how many pieces there were in Snow White’s reel, but I’m no longer intimidated and am eager to get it put together. I’m not sure when I’ll be starting that part, but I know I’ll be enjoying it once I do.
This is one of the sections that looks as if it will be more difficult than most, so hopefully it won’t take too much longer than the 20 days it took to finish the first section. Day 1 complete!
Just a quick update, Cinderella will be the next section of the puzzle I’m going to tackle. I began sorting the Fantasia section today and found a damaged piece with part of the image missing. I called Ravensburger and am being sent a replacement bag. Since I don’t think I want to sort through 4000 pieces to find the specific one I’m looking to replace, I’ll wait on Fantasia for the time being. They were super helpful, even though technically this puzzle isn’t on sale in US right now and won’t be until next year. (I ordered it from a German puzzle website)
Interesting side note, I have always pronounced it Ray-vensburger, and apparently they pronounce it Rah-vensburger.  It sounds so weird to me! I know they’re right and I’m wrong, but I’ve been pronouncing it incorrectly for so long, to my ears they sound like the ones who are mistaken 🙂
I hope to be done sorting Cinderella tomorrow, perhaps I may even be able to start working on the puzzle itself. It seems taking a break was a nice idea, but what I really want is to be working on the Disney puzzle. It may be that after a few sections I’ll be more ready for a break, but for now I’m anxious to get back to work on it!
Success! I have finished one section of this enormous puzzle and I am soooo proud of myself! I can’t sit and work for hours, so there were a lot of 5 and 10 minute increments where I was able to work. From reading posts and group discussions online I have seen that most people keep track of their actual time (hours) spent working on these large piece count puzzles, but that seems more difficult/tedious in my case. So I’m just keeping track of days. Started on September 28 and finished today, October 17. Twenty days. That’s actually better than I anticipated. 4032 pieces, the largest I have ever done 🙂
It’s small, but I’ve put a tape measure across the bottom of the picture above so you can see the size of it; 54 inches wide and about 38 inches tall. I took another picture with the tape measure along the side and a few things on top to give you even more scale – Â my husband’s longest golf club (driver) and an iPhone. It looks like a regular sized puzzle in the pictures so I wanted to show just how big it actually is.
My hubby’s driver, and an iPhone in the lower right corner – this is no small puzzle!
It was not an easy puzzle, but I enjoyed the challenge and it wasn’t so difficult as to be frustrating or tedious. The twinklies at the end were the most formidable, but once I got going I became more comfortable with the colors I was working with and each piece became easier to find. There were shapes repeated, especially along the edges, where paying close attention was a must. The pieces fit perfectly but the shading or something wasn’t exactly right. There were several times where I thought a piece was placed properly only to find that it wasn’t when adjacent pieces were added. It seemed in the interior of the puzzle that these happened only in 2’s. Perhaps each piece is repeated only once? It did not, however, diminish my enjoyment of the puzzle, and only added to my sense of pride and accomplishment once all the pieces were placed in their proper positions!
I’m giving myself a few days break, and may work a couple of normal sized puzzles in the meantime. I’m currently working on a 1000 piece Schmidt puzzle by Colin Thompson that I’m enjoying very much, and have a couple of 500 piece Dowdle puzzles to choose from as well. A little 500 piece puzzle might just be the palate cleanser I need before starting another section.
After consulting with my Puzzle Posse *mom and husband* ;), we have decided that the next section to be worked will be Fantasia. I want to get the most difficult sections done earlier on so I’m going to be alternating between the easier sections and the difficult ones. Fantasia, Cinderella and Peter Pan seem to me to be the most challenging, so they are the ones to be completed earlier in this process. Then nearer the end I won’t have to dread doing the more demanding sections because they will have been completed months ago!
I will probably start sorting Fantasia tomorrow and it may take a day or two to sort through them. Perhaps that will be a long enough break, perhaps not. We’ll have to wait and see how I feel, and whether or not I get antsy to get back to work. Of course, I can’t start work on the new section until we get the first one off the board, onto the big piece of cardboard and then figure out where we’re going to store it. Yikes. I need a bigger house!
My Jigsaw Journal 