Every puzzler is different, but for me sorting is the worst part. It’s a necessary part, at least for me, but it’s the part of puzzling that gives me the most anxiety and it’s just no fun at all.
Many people don’t sort, other than the edge pieces, but that’s something my OCD won’t allow me to do. Scrabbling through the box looking for pieces makes many people happy, I’m just not one of them.
My next puzzle – a 2000 piece (not the one shown above) – is being sorted at the moment, and it feels as though it’s taking forever and a day. When it’s finished I’ll be glad that I’ve spent the time sorting, because in addition to the edge pieces I’ve pulled out, there will be plenty of little sections in their separate containers ready to be dumped out and assembled. But when I’m in the middle of it – it just feels like drudgery.
For me, part of becoming familiar with the pieces starts with the sorting and laying the pieces out. It’s my first look, and I touch and look at every piece to see if it’s part of a section I’m pulling out or if it’s just going to be put on a tray; I’m getting used to the colors and patterns, and it helps me later on in the assembly.
Pulling out pieces to start working on after the edge is assembled is almost always necessary for me as well. I love being able to start right away putting something together once the edge is done. Unless the image is very difficult there are usually several sections that can be pulled out during the initial sorting, and it makes me happy to get to the puzzling right away. If it’s a collage I can zero in on a bright color or unique pattern, or I can set aside all the pieces with words or letters, or even pull out all the sky pieces; it all depends on the image. No matter what pieces I pull out, being able to start assembling something immediately after I put the edge together makes me happy.
I know all these things, and sorting is necessary for me and the way I puzzle – but I still hate the sorting. 🤷♀️
This is the update of the 12 Nightmare Christmas Puzzles advent calendar set – I got my free puzzle, and it’s shown above. To say I am underwhelmed doesn’t cover it, I’m a little disgusted too.
First of all, I don’t care for the image; it’s a little dark (the actual box image seems darker) and it’s just not my cup of tea. Secondly, the set was 1200 pieces, and I get a 300 piece puzzle to make up for the horrible experience I had? I realize that I returned the puzzle to the store for a refund, and therefore don’t really need a 1200 piece puzzle as recompense, but seriously? An ugly 300 piece puzzle is supposed to smooth everything over?
I am done with Ceaco. I will no longer purchase any of their puzzles, no matter how beautiful or interesting the image is – not even if they end up with exclusive rights to all future Aimee Stewart images. (Please Aimee, don’t do that to me. You’re my favorite puzzle artist!)
One person no longer buying their puzzles is just a drop in the ocean, and I’m sure it won’t even be a blip on their bottom line. But it doesn’t matter, not to me. There are plenty of puzzle companies with excellent customer service who I’d much rather spend my hard earned money on.
You’ll still see Ceaco puzzles here on My Jigsaw Journal for a while, I’ve received some as gifts and there are still boxes and boxes of puzzles at mom’s house to go through. She was constantly at the thrift stores finding puzzles for us and I’m certain there are quite a few Ceacos there to be assembled too.
I may relent at some point, but right now I seriously doubt it. I’m still pretty pissed about the whole thing.
After I finished Art City yesterday my brain and my body were both exhausted. I spent the rest of the day in bed taking many naps, and was worried that I’d have no in progress update to share with you all today. 😥
Unfortunately an upsetting thing happened in the evening, and even though I was still exhausted (I’m certain adding antibiotics to my pain regimen is part of the problem) I couldn’t turn my brain off enough to allow me to sleep.
As usual, when I can’t sleep it’s off to the puzzle room, and I was able to sort the entire thing and actually got quite a bit of it assembled too. Every cloud has a silver lining, yadda yadda yadda.
There were plenty of small sections that were easy to separate during the sorting, but other than the white kitten I didn’t try to sort any of the animals. There are many, many pieces of fur left on the trays, but I hope as I’m putting this one together that the different animals will become a little more familiar and it won’t be too much of a chore to get them assembled.
This puzzle was a Christmas gift, and I was going to apologize for how long it took me to get to assembling it – but it’s only been just over two weeks! How in the world does it feel like Christmas was forever ago? My life is whizzing past me at breakneck speeds; perhaps that’s just what happens when you’re over the hill, you’re on the down slope and speeds pick up. Yikes.
To that end, there are eight more puzzles I received as gifts, and to the two lovely ladies who gave them to me, it might be a while until they’re all assembled. The two Christmas themed puzzles may have to wait until December, but the remaining six will find their way onto my table in due course. I promise that I love them all and will absolutely be assembling them, but it may take a while.
My life complicates things all the time, and it gets in the way of my puzzling. Rude. 🤨
After sitting on my board unsorted for two days, I finally got going on Art City, a 1001 piece wooden puzzle from Mr. Bob Puzzles in Australia.
The colors are beautiful, and most of the pieces have a straight or almost straight edge, so the assembly isn’t as easy as it looks. This is a large puzzle, approximately 19 x 31 inches, so the start I have here isn’t very much of the image at all, there’s a lot more to go!
This puzzle has a lot of great whimsies, and they are all roaring 20’s, jazz, and art deco inspired. I love them all, and there are several words mixed in with the whimsies that are lots of fun; my favorite of course is my name…
If only I had thought to ask for “My Jigsaw Journal” spelled out in pieces, that would be amazing! Maybe on the next puzzle…. 😁
To be honest, the first day I poured the pieces onto the board the sheer number of pieces and the large pile it made completely overwhelmed me. I put the whimsies on trays, but stopped there and did nothing on it the rest of the day, and didn’t even go in the puzzle room the day after that. I wish I could say my anxiety was under control, but it isn’t, and even though puzzling helps me deal with anxiety and reduce stress, it’s only once I’m actually working on the puzzle that this holds true. Before I start the actual assembly there are many, many pieces to turn over and lay out, and that’s where the anxiety comes in. I’m doing my best, and I have medication, but I still get stressed when I see a huge box or pile of pieces. Anxiety sucks.
It’s the annual review of my puzzling exploits, and 2019 was quite a year. A total of 203 puzzles were assembled that add up to 91,051 pieces! I set myself goals last year, but I couldn’t have known what the year would bring, and that for more than two and a half months I wouldn’t be doing any puzzles at all.
So, no more puzzling goals for me, other than to do the puzzles that excite me and make me happy, and to spend my puzzle time enjoying myself.
Municipal Bldg. NY – Pastime Puzzles? – 1600 pieces
5 pounds of vintage wooden puzzle pieces!
My greatest puzzling accomplishment of 2019 was the Mystery Puzzle Box that I assembled with mom; a box of loose vintage puzzle pieces that I bought on eBay. We had no idea what the image was, or even whether or not it was just one puzzle or many smaller ones. It turned out to be a 1600 piece one of a kind hand-cut Pastime Puzzle of the Municipal Building in New York, and we then found out it that was potentially over 100 years old! Mom and I spent many weeks putting it together; marveling over the fantastic shapes and the unbelievable fit, and in general loving the puzzle and loving spending lots of time together. I am unbelievably grateful that we had that extra time together working on this puzzle, and I cherish every moment we spent assembling it. 💝
Pretending to be Normal by Suzy Toronto – White Mountain – 1000 pieces
2019 will always be the year I lost mom, and as I write this recap of my thoughts are mostly of her and all the puzzles we worked on together. Pretending to be Normal is the last puzzle she ever did, and the last puzzle we assembled together. It will always be special to me, and once it is reassembled it will be glued and framed to hang on the wall in my puzzle room. I loved it even before I knew it would be our last, and I love it even more now. ❤
Save The Whales by Robert Williams – Mr. Bob Puzzles – 515 pieces
Best Friends by Dean Russo – Starz Puzzles – 158 pieces
The Messenger by Kevin Sloan – Artifact – 313 pieces
Air Vent Kitty – Avanti – 150 pieces
Farmer’s Market by Tracy Flickinger – Ceaco – 300 pieces
Harry Potter Book 1 by Mary GrandPre – NY Puzzle Co. – 100 pieces
These are some of the amazing, wonderful, fun, and silly puzzles completed this year. Save The Whales is a gorgeous 500+ piece puzzle from Australia that I was so happy to be able to review, the image is stunning! Best Friends is the most expensive puzzle of the year for it’s small piece count – another review that I was privileged to do – and I loved the fantastic quality and unique star shaped pieces. Show Cat is a silly little 300 piece Ceaco puzzle that made mom and I laugh hysterically when we saw it at the thrift store, I just had to get it. Petrified Wood Mosaicis another thrift store find of moms, I loved the uniqueness of the image and the challenge of the assembly. When I see it I think of mom, and I’ve glued and hung it as artwork; it’s just beautiful! The Messenger is a gorgeous wooden puzzle sent by my fellow puzzle blogger Penny. Mom and I loved the assembly, and it was our last wooden puzzle together. Air Vent Kitty is a very small 150 piece puzzle that mom and I assembled sitting on my bed, and it makes me think of her and how much she loved those tiny little pieces. Farmer’s Market is part of a series of three puzzle images that I adore, and I had the best time assembling the two that we found – great fun! Harry Potter Book 1 (and the other 6 too) were a gift from my beautiful daughter; 100 piece puzzles of the Harry Potter book covers, and I assembled and loved every single one!
I’m so grateful to have this blog as an outlet for my obsession for and love of jigsaw puzzles, and even more so as a reminder of all the puzzles I’ve assembled both by myself and with mom. Everyone who stops by is welcome and appreciated, and all the puzzle friends I’ve met are a bright spot in my life. Thank you to all my readers and members of the PADS Posse for another great year! I’m sending out wishes for a wonderful new year full of puzzles and happiness.
My Jigsaw Journal’s Stats for 2019
115 countries viewed My Jigsaw Journal
11,786 visitors to the blog
54,732 total views
304 posts
203 puzzles completed
91,051 pieces assembled
50 brands worked
1 PADS diagnosis 😉
There are plenty of other stats I could give, but to be honest I just don’t feel like spending my time compiling them. I have puzzles to assemble!
