The Sunflowers

On July 18, 2026June 12, 2026 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles12 Comments

The Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh – Trefl – 200 pieces

Oh man was I super excited to find a wooden puzzle at the thrift store – it’s never happened to me before and even better than just finding it – it was new, unopened! I couldn’t believe my luck and was so excited to assemble it. I had a puzzle on my board and was looking forward to finishing it quickly so I could get to work on this one. Sigh. As you can see, it’s more than just missing a few pieces; by my count it is missing 42 pieces. ☹

Both Penny and hubby brought up that it might just look like it hadn’t been opened, someone could have opened and assembled it and then did some fancy stuff to make it look like new when it was donated. It’s a possibility, but I don’t think that’s what happened. They could have made the outside look unopened, but the puzzle itself is in a paper bag sealed with a Trefl sticker showing the image on the puzzle and what looks like a product number. That bag was also unopened, the sticker had never been removed or peeled away from the paper. I believe it came from the factory this way, but I cannot say for sure. Even though this is the first Trefl puzzle I have ever done, I can’t with certainty say whether the missing pieces are the fault of the company so I can’t speak about their quality control without knowing whose fault this was.

What makes this even more upsetting for me was not only are so many pieces missing, it is a double-sided puzzle! Have you ever heard of a double-sided wooden puzzle? I hadn’t. When I started turning pieces over I was shocked that there’s an image on the back, a black line drawing of sunflowers. If this had been a complete puzzle it would have made me so happy to have found it for only $4.99. A shaped wooden puzzle, inside a rectangular puzzle, with another image on the back – how cool is that? Now it’s basically just an extra box to put in the recycling.

It was so interesting to me that this wasn’t just a rectangular puzzle of the artwork, but the vase of sunflowers itself could be done by itself as a shaped puzzle. This puzzle is just so different from every other wooden puzzle I’ve ever done, it would have been a definite keeper had it been complete.

Other than the fact that 20% of this puzzle was missing, it was relatively good quality. The pieces were about the same thickness as a Wentworth with a matte finish, the fit was quite loose but not too much so, the pieces of the frame were regularly shaped and the inner part of the puzzle had more irregular shapes – it should have five whimsies, but they were absent. You can see from their missing shapes that they were a chair, a bed, a leaf, a sunflower, and a vase of sunflowers.

This puzzle was quite a disappointment, but here’s how I’m choosing to look at it – I didn’t pay full price and I did get about two hours of quality puzzle time out of it even if it was incomplete. My job was to put together all the pieces until none were left, I completed my mission. Where else can you get two hours of entertainment that’s also good for your health for only five dollars? And, as a bonus, I saved someone else from spending their hard-earned money on a puzzle with so many missing pieces. Yay me!

Disappointing, but still I had a good time putting together the pieces that were there. That’s how I’m choosing to look at it. Onward to the next puzzle!

Almond Blossom

On May 18, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles2 Comments

I purchased all of these micro puzzles more than 7 months ago, I thought it was about time I got to assembling them all. It doesn’t hurt that they’re so small and easy to work with while in bed. They also give me a chance to work on images that I wouldn’t normally do in a larger piece count. Although Almond Blossom is a beautiful piece of artwork there is NO WAY I’d assemble this image in 500 or 1000 pieces – it would be way too frustrating for me.

I have 7 more everyday image micro puzzles left to assemble, and 8 more Christmas or winter themed ones – not including the 3 I’ve already assembled that are in the queue ready to post. I’m saving the winter ones for Christmas in July on the blog, and have started peppering in the others here and there.

It’s been almost a month since I’ve been able to sit at my puzzle board to work, so almost everything I’ve assembled has been done in my room or in bed. These micro puzzles are perfect for that, I can “get my puzzle on” without causing too much pain or frustration.

I ordered myself a Mother’s Day/Wedding Anniversary present that will be arriving today – a beautiful, colorful, intricate wooden puzzle from Liberty Puzzles. It has enough pieces to offer a challenge (so it won’t be over with too quickly), but it will fit perfectly on the white board so that I can work on it in bed. I can’t wait to open the box and look at all the pieces! It also gives me plenty of motivation to finish the lovely puzzle I’m currently working on so I can start on the gorgeous present I bought myself. 😍

Irises

On May 9, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

This is another very small piece puzzle that mom found somewhere. The image is only the top of Van Gogh’s Irises, but it was lovely and challenging and I had the best time putting it together!

The two puzzles we have from this series were truly the best quality smaller piece puzzles that I’ve worked with. The pieces are thick and fit together extremely well, there is no wondering if you have placed the piece correctly or not. The image reproduction is very good, but seems a bit darker than the original artwork (from my non-artist point of view anyway). If mom finds any Andrews + Blaine small piece puzzles at the thrift store we’re definitely getting them!

The whole puzzle fit on a cookie sheet, and I assembled the entire thing while in bed. I haven’t been able to sit at my puzzle table for well over a week now, so all the puzzles I’m doing have to fit on my white board or something smaller so that I can do them while lying down or propped up. There’s another advantage of the tiny puzzle! 😉

I was actually a little afraid of this puzzle for a while, the image is a bit difficult. I found it to be quite calming to assemble though; and even if I had to sit and stare at them for a bit, I could find and place the pieces correctly. In the end though, I’ve discovered that I’m much braver about difficult images if there aren’t many pieces. I don’t think I’ll ever attempt Starry Night in 1000 or even 500 pieces; but I didn’t have a problem putting it together as a 40 piece wooden puzzle. If it’s super challenging my courage is directly related to piece count. 300 pieces or less? Sure! More than that? Probably not. Maybe 500 tops – maybe.

I really enjoyed this puzzle much more than I anticipated, just as much as the first one I assembled – Fairgrounds. You can’t really tell how small they are until you see the tiny little box they come in. I took a great picture of the puzzle box next to my coffee cup in that post!

It doesn’t look like these small puzzles are being produced by A + B anymore, but if you happen across one in a thrift store, go for it! It’s a nice change from larger piece counts, and just may be more fun than you think. 👍

Starry Night

On March 10, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This 40 piece puzzle is probably the only way I’ll assemble Starry Night. In 1000 pieces or more it will most likely be too frustrating for me; I’ll take what I can get. Look everyone! I assembled Starry Night by Van Gogh! 😎

This time it wasn’t me in the hospital, but I brought along a few of Wentworth’s micro puzzles when I went to visit. You don’t really need a helper when there are only 40 pieces but when you’re laid up with nothing to do but watch tv, assembling a small but fun puzzle with a friend is a much better idea!

The whimsies in this puzzle confused us for a bit; the one in the lower right looks like a baby bottle to me, but I’m sure it’s not. The upper right-hand whimsy had us stumped until I figured out that it was a spilled bottle of ink or paint. The others were easy enough to recognize – a tube of paint, a picture frame, and a palette with paintbrush. Beautiful!

As usual, the quality was exceptional. Thick wooden pieces that feel great in your hand and give a satisfying “plunk” as they fall into place. As heavenly as a starry night!