Review: Rainy Day Sketch

On April 10, 2020April 10, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews11 Comments

I was quite disappointed in the quality of this puzzle, particularly the fit. Even though it’s adorably cute, it wasn’t enough to make up for pieces that seem to fit where they do not belong and a mushy feel that doesn’t let you know whether or not you’ve got the right piece. The image is great, the rest of this puzzle – not so much.

Sunsout is one of those companies whose puzzles can range from excellent to poor quality; you never seem to know what you’re going to get. Because of that I normally do NOT purchase this brand retail, but I admit to buying this and one other Sunsout puzzle last month in an attempt to stock up a bit before….well, you know.

I’ve done several puzzles with artwork by Tricia Reilly-Matthews, and they’re always sweet and cute, she captures the innocence of childhood and it makes for beautiful puzzles – that must be why I caved and bought the two puzzles. If it weren’t for the quality, it would have been quite an entertaining assembly. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be, image-wise, but the challenge kept me on my toes.

The way jigsaw puzzle pieces fit together is one of the most important aspects of quality, and when it is lacking it makes for an assembly experience that is less than optimal. It was an extremely frustrating assembly that might otherwise have been entertaining. Even with chipboard that was a good thickness, a good variety of piece shapes and lovely image reproduction, the poor fit negated most of the pluses and I am not recommending this puzzle.

Usually what I tell myself is that it won’t happen again. That the next time I’m in a store near the puzzles I will remember my bad experience with this brand and will not buy any of their puzzles. The problem is that the brand isn’t consistent with it’s quality and I always want to believe that the puzzle I want to buy is going to be one of the good ones; sometimes it is, but sometimes it isn’t. Did I learn my lesson this time? Only time will tell.

Details:

Title: Rainy Day Sketch
Artist: Tricia Reilly-Matthews
Brand: Sunsout
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 19 x 19 in. (48 x 48 cm)
Purchased: New

Quality:

Board: Good
Cutting: Good/Fair
Image: Very good
Box: Average
Fit: Poor
Puzzle Dust: Large amount
Piece cut: Grid cut – offset
Piece shapes: Good variety
Finish: Slightly shiny finish, lays flat

Overall Rating: Fair/Poor, not recommended

*These days finding any jigsaw puzzle in stores or online is almost a miracle, so if you find this puzzle out there you have to take my recommendation with a grain of salt. All reviews are only opinions; my puzzle and my opinion of it might differ from yours. So if you come across this one and you’re out of puzzles….you do what’s best for you.

Rainy Day Sketch In Progress

On March 23, 2020March 23, 2020 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles8 Comments

Rainy Day Sketch IP — Rainy Day Sketch by Tricia Reilly-Matthews – Sunsout – 500 pieces

I just started working on this puzzle early this morning – up at 4 am – yay. I finished my Stacey & Ruth puzzle yesterday, and picked this one out, but didn’t touch it at all until this morning.

Picking out puzzles is sometimes a bit crazy for me. I seem to forget the previous negative experiences I’ve had with a certain brand unless they were over the top terrible, and I want to think that this next time is going to be amazing (a bit like having kids 😉 ). Sunsout has provided me with some amazing puzzling experiences, and some that weren’t so great. When I see an image I really like from a certain brand it overrides the negative and I only seem to remember the good ones.

I found two really adorable Sunsout puzzles on my last shopping trip before we were all told to stay home and socially isolate ourselves. My desire for a few new puzzles and the cute images on the boxes completely wiped out most of the negative Sunsout experiences I’ve had previously. Needless to say, I bought two new puzzles from this brand; now that I’ve started working with this one I remember why this isn’t a brand I usually purchase. 😐

The fit isn’t great, and even though I’m not even a third of the way through this puzzle there have been many, many pieces that seem to fit where they do not belong, and when they do fit it feels “mushy”. You can’t really be certain you’ve got it right unless or until it connects to other pieces around it. I. Am. Not. A. Fan. Of. This.

Oh well. Lesson learned. For now.

Review: My Sister’s Closet

On November 22, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Puzzle reviews, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

My Sister’s Closet by Tricia Reilly-Matthews – Sunsout – 300 pieces

I liked the quality and the image of this puzzle very much. Sunsout is hit or miss for me sometimes. We all have different things that are important to us in a puzzle, and sometimes the fit of Sunsout is too tight and (for me) it takes away from the enjoyment of puzzling. This 300 piece puzzle though, was a great fit and such a sweet image. 🙂

I don’t believe I’ve worked a puzzle by this artist before, she seems to capture the essence of children. I don’t know another way to explain it, you can tell looking at the little girls in this picture that the artist knows and loves children. Once I looked her up it all made sense, Tricia Reilly-Matthews teaches art to children from kindergarten to 5th grade – of course she paints children so well!

It’s amazing how tastes seem different depending on how much you have to spend on something. This image is very cute, but I don’t think I’d purchase it if I had to pay full price. It’s just not the type of image I’m most drawn to. But ask me to only pay 69 cents for it, and I’m there! Absolutely I’d love to do this puzzle! I wonder if that speaks more to my puzzle addiction, or to my tendency to be a tightwad/cheapskate?

Whichever is the answer, I’m glad mom found this puzzle to do, I enjoyed it very much!

Details: