DEBORAH CROMBIE: Who would have thought a few months ago that jigsaw puzzles would be among the new unobtainable things? And did you ever think about how labor and time intensive puzzles are to manufacture? I loved this piece in the New York Times.
The template for every single puzzle is hand drawn, and no two pieces can be exactly alike! That is just mind-boggling. They don't just use any old art for the pictures, either, but commission the paintings specifically.
Luckily for me, I had ordered a puzzle for Christmas, which has been out on my dining room table since...January! It's only 500 pieces but I'm very slow. Not to mention that the cats have dumped the whole thing on the floor twice and I've had to start over.
This puzzle is a Galison, and double-sided. Eeek! I doubt I'll ever manage to do the second side!
(When I went to the Galison website just now, every single puzzle is SOLD OUT!)
My idea when I laid the puzzle out was that I would have friends and/or family over to work it with me, but obviously that's not happening these days, and the hubby has no patience for it. So in the meantime, I think I need some puzzle working tips from people who are better at this than I am! I do start with the borders, and am sorting the pieces by color, as you can see in the photo above.
I have a couple more puzzles on order, although one was just canceled. Maybe the other one, a Galison I ordered weeks ago, will arrive eventually. Maybe I'll even be ready for a new one by then…
Reds, were you lucky enough to score puzzles? Are you good at them? Do you have a favorite puzzle brand?
RHYS BOWEN: I’m not usually a puzzle person, in fact the only time I’ve really enjoyed puzzles is with a big group at Christmas when the puzzle is out on a coffee table and everyone adds as they pass.
However I have a great desire to do a puzzle right now and of course my large stack of puzzles and board games are all in California while I’m in Arizona
I tried ordering online. I thought I’d scored until I saw delivery date, May 15 !
Then I tried online puzzle which drove me crazy as you couldn’t see the picture at the same time as the puzzle pieces. Hopeless. But I have just sent off for quilt squares. I’ve never quilted but I’m in full Little House mode. Next— churning butter.
HALLIE EPHRON: Right, do the corners first, then the edges, then work toward the middle. I used to love jigsaw puzzles but haven’t done one in years. Might be time to start. Though patience is not my strong suit.
JENN McKINLAY: I love jigsaw puzzles! It’s been awhile since I’ve done one but I love it when it’s a group activity. And, yes, Hallie is so right - corners, sides, fill in the middle! Also, if doing it in a group, hide one piece so you get to put the last piece in. Can you tell I’m the youngest child and had to learn this trick the hard way?
DEBS: Jenn, you are brutal!!!!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ah, no, I really...don’t enjoy them. They take so long, and I guess I’m not spatial, and then, at the end, what do you do? Break them all up? Once a million years ago, my sibs and I got a jigsaw puzzle for my dad. It was terrific, with some of the shapes personal--a poodle, a scales of justice, a champagne bottle, a judge’s gavel, things like that. It was brilliant. We loved doing that one. In fact, I think I still have it! Hmm.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m not a jigsaw puzzle person - crosswords all the way for me. However, my mother always enjoyed working a jigsaw and HER mother was a fanatic. Grandma always had a puzzle going as long as I knew her, usually on a sturdy card table kept for that purpose. We would seek out extra challenging ones as birthday and Christmas gifts - oddly shaped puzzles, two sided puzzles like the ones Debs is doing, or, and these were really challenging - puzzles with no picture on the cover, just a vague or tricky description. (Those last were the popular form for jigsaw puzzles in the early 1900s.)
One thing I know is a must-have for jigsaw puzzle lovers - a puzzle mat! Two people can lift it and clear the table for a meal without disturbing a puzzle in progress, and the suede-like nap will help keep pieces in place, even when the cat jumps up to demand some attention!
DEBS: Julia, I do have a puzzle mat. It did not, however, keep the cats from pulling the whole thing off the table. And it shows the cat hair! I used to have a puzzle board, years ago, but now I have no idea where it is.
LUCY BURDETTE: I’m not a jigsaw puzzle person either, but our daughter is--and she was desperately searching for one online. And we were desperate to contribute to her mental health, as she works in the ER and has two toddlers at home. Luckily our Madison CT bookstore, RJ Julia, has some beautiful puzzles to order. They are now happily working on Cinques Terres, and shhhhh, don’t tell, I just sent them New York Times Square this week.
I love the idea of Rhys churning butter:)
DEBS: Lucy, I looked at the puzzles at RJ Julia. I was SO tempted by the one with the Japanese maples. But it's 1000 pieces and looks so hard. Assuming it is even still available.
I'm thinking that as a group we are either not very spatial or not very patient! But I do want to see Rhys churning butter!
READERS, how about you? Who likes puzzles? Who was lucky enough to get one? Or even two....
I, too, definitely want to see Rhys churning butter!
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I am not a jigsaw puzzle person [I’d rather do crosswords], but I succumbed and ordered an amazing moon puzzle made from NASA photographs. And I have no idea if I will actually get it done or if I will give up in frustration. [Of course, when I got a huge LEGO Saturn V rocket kit, I set it aside to put together with my grandsons [we had a great time!] . . . . Perhaps that will happen to the puzzle, too.] We shall see . . . .
the moon puzzle sounds very cool Joan!
DeleteYes, Joan, the moon puzzle sound very cool. But hard, I'd guess! All the same color!
DeleteI’m afraid I’m not a puzzle person either. I worked on them when I was a kid but the joy of accomplishment obviously didn’t stick. Joan, I’m jealous you can build with legos. I couldn’t do anything with Lincoln logs either. I can do crossword puzzles though and solve my newspaper’s and the WSJ’s daily. It is supposed to keep your mind sharp but I don’t think it’s working.
ReplyDeleteOh Pat, we can't judge our poor overloaded brains right now LOL!
DeleteI have not done a puzzle since I was a child. I remember we did keep some of the finished ones we liked and put them in a picture frame to hang up...I suppose that means my parents glued it in?!
ReplyDeleteBut like others, I was curious what types of puzzles were available and searched on-line...and most of them were sold out.
So I guess I will stick to word searches and crossword puzzles instead.
For me jigsaws are for vacations, for idle time with family. I haven't owned one in years, and I can't even imagine how hard a double-sided one is unless the colors are radically different. Crosswords now? Bring them on!
ReplyDeleteI just completed my first jigsaw puzzle ever! For some reason I thought I might like to work on one during my spring break, which was the week before the stay home orders started, so I was able to order one with no problem. I never did anything with it over the break but did complete it last week. Not sure if I enjoyed it enough to try another one, but I did like the sense of accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteI ended up putting matching pieces together outside the puzzle boundaries so I had 5-6 small sections done, which made it easier for me to see how they fit together.
Did you know you can make butter with a KitchenAid mixer? True story, I've done it, as a science project with my grandson when he stayed with us for a week once. You use heavy cream and a little salt, and the byproduct, the whey, makes buttermilk. It's very messy, though, unless you cover the bowl opening. You can also make it via a DIY Shake Weight workout: put the cream in a Mason jar and cover tightly. Shake it vigorously. It takes FOREVER.
ReplyDeleteI used to enjoy jigsaw puzzles, especially between Christmas and New Year's when the kids were off school and likely to be cooped up inside. One year my middle daughter--then in high school--and I worked together on a 3-D version of some British landmark. Westminster Abbey, maybe? It was a great challenge, and we were both so absorbed in the teamwork that she forgot to be a snippy teenager.
My grandson really loves puzzles, so I've given him some huge ones, including a 10,000 piece one. They also like to put together puzzles during the Christmas holiday, which they usually spend at their second home in "Up North" Michigan. They don't have cable up there, and it's usually cold with lots of snow, so when they aren't skiing they tend to cocoon at home together. They have a long peninsula counter which is perfect for leaving a big puzzle up until it's finished.
Now I'm wishing I'd gotten us one!
10000 pieces, Karen!!! That really is mind boggling!!
DeleteAgreed, a 10,000 piece puzzle sounds terrifying! And double-sided puzzles are just evil, Debs.
DeleteAnd yes I knew about the several ways to make butter. I am all for home baking and preserving (like a pioneer woman) but I wiil not make my own butter. But it could be fun to see Rhys try to do so, lol.
Debs, our Zak has ADHD, so he is either scattered or focused. These big challenges engage him and keep him out of trouble!
DeleteThat makes total sense, Karen.
DeleteI've never enjoyed jigsaw puzzles except for watching a group do them and then saving one piece in my pocket so I could put it in last, just like Jenn does. Evil, aren't we.
ReplyDeleteCrossword puzzles are another thing altogether. However, Julie is the fanatic. My job is to give her answers without looking at it, and we're talking the NYT puzzles. My amusements during this isolations are making bread, haven't tried butter yet but it's a thought, and yesterday I made apple crumble for the first time since 1970 or so. My jobs are cooking and keeping the bathrooms and kitchen clean plus some dusting. Julie does the hard stuff like vacuuming and laundry although I'm the designated folder.
It snowed again last night, and our little black dog, Toby, is nearing the end of his days with us. So today is watchful waiting and praying for his ease.
Ann, my thoughts are with you and Julie. Poor Toby, good boy, may you rest easy.
DeleteHugs to you and Julie and Toby. May his days be easy and full of love.
DeleteOh , Ann. Hugs and love to you and Julie. We will watch with you in spirit. Xx
DeleteOh Ann, so sad about your little dog. It is hard to let them go, isn’t it?
DeleteApril is the cruelest month
DeleteAw, it's too sad about Toby. May he rest easily, Ann.
DeleteIt's just not fair that dogs live such a short life in comparison to ours.
We all live until we’ve learned what we need to learn. Dogs just learn faster.
DeleteI am not a jigsaw puzzle person. I am generally a patient person but not when it comes to jigsaw puzzles. My sister and I used to do jigsaws together when we were kids. I would help with the border, then lose interest in it. I do enjoy word searches, crossword puzzles, and other word games, though.
ReplyDeleteJust asked my husband: “Hey Honey, have you got any jigsaw puzzles saved somewhere?” He smiled...
ReplyDeleteHa! That was a real LOL, Hallie. Of COURSE he does...
DeleteMy mom always had a puzzle going at Christmas--everyone who dropped by usually would try to fit a piece or two. We would admire the finished puzzle for a few days, then back in the box it would go. And I enjoy puzzles too (maybe that's why I liked fitting potsherds together and fitting bone fragments together: look, it's a white-tailed deer left mandible!) Sorry, going all nerdy there for a moment.... Advice: clear a space inside the puzzle frame to work sections, so if you make a connection you don't have to try to pick it up to put it in place. I also sort pieces by shapes, so if I see that I need a certain shape to fit somewhere, I can just try my collection one by one until I get a fit. Alas, no foresight here--no new puzzles, but we just might take an old one out of the box again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips, Flora. And it totally makes sense that you would like puzzles with your spatial oriented mind.
DeleteI've learned three new things about jigsaw puzzles. The first is practical--get a puzzle mat. At least it helps some--and I don't have cats. The other two things are frightening--double-sided puzzles exist AND ones with 10,000 pieces do too.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy doing puzzles with other people when we vacation together. As a solitary pursuit, I've never done it and never will. I'd rather read!
Great post, Debs.
Thanks, Kay! The double sided thing is not as bad as it sounds. One side is matt, the other glossy, so no trouble telling them apart. But I don't even want to contemplate the 10000 pieces!
DeleteI *love* jigsaw puzzles. One my favorite brands is Ravensburger because they have so many beautiful pictures to choose from. I do normal puzzles, not the kind with crazy shapes like Hank described. I have a puzzle mat, a puzzle board, and literally dozens of puzzles. What I don't have right now is time. Maybe once this long, awful semester is over...
ReplyDeleteWe had some wonderful Ravensburger puzzles when my boys were kids. So colorful.
DeleteCathy, I feel your pain. It's taking me 3-4 times longer to do anything involving my community college classes online. If the schools don't reopen again in the fall, I'm going to shoot myself.
DeleteI also agree that everything is going slower with the online classes. We are 12 days and 23 hours from the end . . .
DeleteWhat’s the consensus about doing a puzzle a second time? Because once you solve it, it really doesn’t give you any clues to how you did it, does it? So if you take it all apart and start over, it really is starting over. I agree, though, about being crossword puzzles, I love them. Especially the ones with a theme. It’s so much fun when you find a theme! But I am reading all your comments on jigsaw puzzles, and I think it’s interesting how divided we are !
ReplyDeleteIt's a whole new puzzle every time you open the box because nobody I know memorizes where all those 1,000 pieces go.
DeleteYou do it a second time by turning it upside down. or work it inside out (put an x on the center pieces backside...that is your starting point).
DeleteJigsaw puzzles helped me get through a lengthy illness when I was twelve and I've loved them ever since. Lately, I've been doing puzzles on my iPad since I have two demon cats who believe everything that can be pushed off a flat surface should be.
ReplyDeleteDon't hate me. Certainly don't come raid my guest room where I keep all the puzzles, but I have many, and some are still unworked. Like many of you, I fell in love with jigsaws at my grandmother's house in the weeks between Christmas and New Year's. Every year we would buy the hardest puzzle we could find--op art, or solid red, or a closeup of popcorn--and work on it as a group project all week. My grandmother would always fuss about how hard they were, but she and I were always the ones at the puzzle table.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved out of the country house I once again had room to spread out a jigsaw, so I bought and finished several. (Except for that one piece the cat pitched to the dog, who ate it.). I loved the focus and the stillness of it as an escape from a busy job and chaotic family of animals. So when I moved to my current home I continued to buy puzzles even though the space I planned to clear for them has been taken over by my work computer. I have maybe a dozen unopened puzzles including a cat-in-the-library, Van Gough's Starry Night, a collage of stamps, a collage of Nancy Drew book covers, the adorable calico kitten one Deb gave me for Christmas, a topographic map that's centered on my house, and one of those wooden ones with the uniquely-shaped pieces. So, cheers! I'll trade you one for a pot roast and some toilet paper.
I must be a puzzler at heart because I also do crosswords, sudoku, word search, and grant proposals. I've been a quilter, off and on, since 1980, and these days I'm amusing myself by inventing knitting patterns to fit together into an afghan. I can't tell you how I do it. I just do it, and it takes me into tunnel focus that lets all the other things I worry about fade away. I wish you all luck with whatever puzzle you're working.
Oh-h-h, Gigi, an all red one. Like the white one in the movie Sleuth?
DeleteGigi, it's great that you enjoy working on these fiendishly difficult puzzles. That require total focus and a stubbornness which I do not have, at the best of times. For me, if I can read a book without interruption, that would be my zen. But of course, I have not been able to read at all this month. The fatigue and headaches prevent me from doing so and I think I would not get very far working on even a 500-piece puzzle. Word searches and crosswords are ok, though.
DeleteYes, Judy. I had forgotten the puzzle in Sleuth. The red one was a challenge, but the popcorn one was really hard because it made us hungry, so we'd have to get up and reload our popcorn bowls often.
DeleteGrace, I salute your persistence. All my hobbies include looking at small things: reading, quilting, crosswords, jigsaws . . . When I listen to podcasts and audio books I need something to keep my hands busy or I fall asleep. How do you manage? Here's hoping your recovery is complete, the sooner the better!
"I can't tell you how I do. I just do it." Gigi, your knit like I crochet. I just pick up my hook and go.
DeleteOh, Gigi, the collage of Nancy Drew covers really calls to me.
DeleteCrochet is freedom, Deana. You can do anything and go anywhere with a crochet hook and some yarn. I love it!
DeleteThe Nancy Drew puzzle came from Bas Bleu, but they're not offering it anymore. It looks like Amazon has a couple of Nancy Drew puzzles from Cobble Hill, though. Go for it!
That's the thing that's appealing, isn't it, Gigi? The tunnel focus. You can't worry or think about other things while working on a puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThat's what makes it relaxing for me.
DeleteSince we picked Mom up 2 and half weeks ago to come stay with us for the duration of this pandemic, we have been working a puzzle. We are just about done #1 (1000 pieces). I ordered 2 others a few weeks back which should be shipping soon - hard to believe those puzzle shops are so busy their orders are 3-4 weeks out. At least some type of business is thriving in this situation.
ReplyDeleteWe love them as they allow for chatting while doing something. We love game night too, but that's more intense and this is the relaxation.
I am also doing my first LEGO project (since I was a child). LEGO sure have come a long way in those intervening years. This is a LEGO book what when you open it up Jack and the Beanstalk grows from inside (like a pop-up book.) I'll be posting pics/video on my Facebook as I finish it.
Would have helped if I said who this was. It was me! Kristopher
DeleteMaybe Dash Taylor can give you some Lego hints, Kristopher! His hotel creations are amazing.
DeleteKristopher, I can't wait to see the finished Lego creation! We have a Lego store in Dallas and I love going in and looking at all the cool finished builds they display.
DeletePuzzles are used in mental health institutions for several reasons. 1. The brain releases a small bit of dopamine when ever a piece is put together. similar to the satisfying 'click' when you find the 'right' word for a WIP. 2. Teaches cooperation. A needed life skill. 3. Can ground a detached mind. 4. Demonstrates maturation level. Can the cl work a 15 piece puzzle for example. (why used in clinical tests for brain damage.
ReplyDeleteFolks, as you can see I know a bit about puzzles. In Tampa Hillsborough Public library, we were one of the first systems to introduce checking our games and puzzles. (1980's)
While I was writing my take home final for my MLS in 1971 I was also working a jigsaw puzzle. It helped me focus. My sister, the cross word maven, was not amused.
BIG HOVEVER. This beloved sister sent me 3 puzzles to Okinawa in 1969 to keep me sane. I worked those 3 puzzles until I had the pattern memorized. Turned the puzzle over and worked it blank.
I suspect the pantzers do not favor puzzles and the plotters do. I also suspect all of you are disciplined enough to ignore that tempting section.
Can't do crosswdrs. Can't spel.
Coralee, so interesting about puzzles and the dopamine hit. I totally get it. And the mind grounding. And I would be more than happy to practice my cooperation skills with someone:-)
DeleteCoralee, that's some fascinating information. One of my daughters was just complaining she needs her dopamine hits; I'm going to suggest dragging out one of the old jigsaw puzzles (yes, we have a few. Before the plague closed down the Transfer station/Goodwill, you could pick up puzzles for free/$.50!)
DeleteI'd be happy to come over and cooperate, Deb, if Rick would let me in the house. Or let me out again when it was time to go home . . . Maybe he could temperature test me?
DeleteTimely. I just sent jigsaw puzzles to my grandsons in Delaware. The 5 year old went straight to it. Rachel sent me a photo of him working on one and he looks positively angelic. This is the same 5 year old who shoots her with nerf darts while she is remotely teaching her AP Chem class!
ReplyDeleteThe almost nine year old is a fanatical Lego builder. I just sent him a set for his birthday that has a kazillion pieces. That will keep him busy.
I do not know if Jonathan's almost 3 year old really likes puzzles. His birthday is next week as is the nine year old's and Gramma and Papa will miss the celebrations. Hopefully, we will all get together in the summer.
Rhys, I think making butter with a churn will take all morning. I'm nearing the conclusion of Love and Death among the Cheetahs and I have to admit that I'd personally prefer if you just keep on writing since I am totally addicted to these wonderful stories!
I have no real interest myself in puzzles but will build one if necessary to prove a point. I am very gifted spatially, being the one who does all of the packing of suitcases, car trunks, station wagons, freezers, and so on. I'm the one they call on make everything fit.
Anyway, all I'm doing these days is reading (besides cooking and cleaning), and fulfilling my New Year's resolution. So thank you Reds!
Stay safe and well.
Judy, you are a GOOD Gramma! I remember how grateful I was to enormous, complicated LEGO sets when my kids were young. It could keep them riveted for up to an hour - which for 6 and 7 years olds, is an eternity (and time enough to get some grown-up chores done.)
DeleteShalom Reds and fans. I’ve not tried to do a jigsaw puzzle since I was a teenager. We would do them as a family usually at Christmas time. I’m not sure I would be any good at them now. I think my attitude would be bad. Sort of like, “Why waste so much time?”
ReplyDeleteWhen I was taking piano lessons in the last 20 years, my teacher would encourage me to practice new pieces like a puzzle of sorts. If I was not familiar with the piece he would encourage me to find a recording of the piece if possible. Before iTunes or Spotify that would sometimes be a challenge. He would then instruct me to break up the piece into small sections and learn and practice those to some sense of proficiency. Many times he would tell me to learn left hand and right hand separately. Only then, would he allow me to try to link the sections together. There was a palpable sense of accomplishment when I was able to master the whole piece. It was sort of like committing a Shakespearian sonnet to memory.
Now, I “waste” my time reading mystery novels and the New York Times.
David, you've made me think - this might be a great time for anyone who "always wanted to learn" to order a guitar or keyboard online and learn to play. I haven't looked, but I'll bet $500 there are dozens if not hundreds of videos on YouTube teaching piano and guitar.
DeleteJulia, there are lots of professional musicians teaching online now, I think.
DeleteThat's a great idea, Julia! And not only for guitar or piano. Most of the musicians I work with make the bulk of their income from teaching, and a lot of them have taken their lessons to Zoom or other platforms. You could learn anything from oboe to timpani if you wanted to.
DeleteThere is always a puzzle in progress on my kitchen table. I am working on a 2000 piece Ravensburger, Poisons and Potions, currently. I think Ravensburger and Springbok are the best brands. Seriouspuzzles.com is a good place to to buy puzzles. When I am not puzzling, I am reading. I have plenty of new books and puzzles to keep me going through the lockdown. Currently reading Hid From Our Eyes.
ReplyDeleteWe had some wonderful Ravensburger puzzles when my boys were kids. So colorful.
DeleteI think I might have a Ravensburger tucked away in my office closet. But first I have to finish this one!
DeleteI am always working on a puzzle. I prefer 1000 pieces and am pretty particular on the picture. I need busy puzzles. I also like collage puzzles a lot!
ReplyDeleteDawn, what's a collage puzzle?
DeleteI'm not a jigsaw puzzles person. My MIL had always one going on a little table and we put a couple of pieces every time we visited ( which was almost every day in her last years ) . I have fond memories of my MIL and all the time we spent together.
ReplyDeleteDeborah, you put a smile on my face and my heart with this post.
Thank you, Danielle! I will consider this a good day!
DeleteI was never a jigsaw puzzle person - that whole spatial thing. But I've gotten into digital ones on my iPad big time. The app I have allows for different sizes, whether the pieces rotate, etc. I only have an iPad Mini, so I can't do past a certain number of pieces. Just too small. When I get a bigger iPad, maybe. And best of all, as I've said, no lost pieces!
ReplyDeleteThose of you looking for puzzles, Mystery Lovers Bookshop might be able to help you out. www.mysterylovers.com
I'm absolutely a jigsaw puzzler, and always have been. But about 10 years, upped my game to becoming, almost exclusively, a Liberty Puzzle puzzler. Liberty Puzzles are manufactured in Boulder, CO, made on 1/4" plywood (oh, the smell of fresh cut wooden pieces when you first open the box!) and take famous artwork and posters and turn them into puzzle magic. In addition, no 2 pieces are alike in a puzzle, and they incorporate thematic "whimsy" pieces in each. For instance, in the Moulin Rouge puzzle, pieces include ones shame like the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and a painter's palette. And, fun fact: there are no corners. Corners are created by taking 2 pieces that don't look like corners, but when you put them together, they create one. And minimal edge pieces, as well, through that same approach.
ReplyDeleteBecause these are truly masterpieces of manufacturing and art, they range in price from $95-$125 a piece. No joke. Some people splurge on handbags? I splurge on puzzles. On a trip to Napa about 8 years ago, we visited Silver Oak winery and discovered they'd had a custom Liberty Puzzle created for sale at their wine shop. Other people buy a case of wine as a souvenir, but I had to have that puzzle.
When we had a ski condo up in NH, I would treat myself once a year to a new ski/winter-themed puzzle, complete it, and mount it as a wall hanging. (This is also part of how I helped justify the cost of this pricy hobby!) And a few I've collected over the years I loan to people to share in the delight of completing one of these masters. If someone is an avid puzzler and is ready for a challenge, I happily loan them the one or two I keep around for re-assembly.
Two years ago, I took a photo of the coast of Manorola in Cinque Terre, and had it turned into a custom puzzle. I bought 2 copies: one to complete and mount, and the other to complete and redo over time.
They are sadly closed right now due to Covid, but if you're a puzzle lover and open to an investment in your hobby, I strongly recommend them!
(Meanwhile -- my puzzling spot - my dining room table -- is currently established as a mask-making hub. 200 masks made and donated so far, and feeling guilty that I can't wait to get to the bottom of my material stash so I can guiltlessly pack up the sewing machine and break open a puzzle.
Kathy, of course I had to look up Liberty Puzzles! Amazing!! I can see how one could get addicted to those.
DeleteThank you for making and donating masks!
Kathy, I'm going to plug a similar puzzle company here in Maine: The Waterford Puzzle Company (https://waterfordpuzzles.com/) They also have gorgeous works of art and do custom puzzles - you select the art and then select the level of difficulty, so you can have a 75 piece puzzle that has been cut in such a way as to make it very challenging. The caveat: these are VERY expensive works of art. They start at just under $100 and go up from there.
DeleteTheir store is closed, but the artisans are still working (not far from where I live) and they're taking orders online.
Julia -- I will check them out! Thanks!
DeleteDeborah -- when I get into one, I *have* to finish it in one day. As a result, I start in the am and make sure there's nothing else on my calendar :-) #obsessed
Well Kathy this is revelatory ...
DeleteOn the issue of standardization
ReplyDeletehttp://minichino.com/wordpress/?p=4314
Very interesting, Liz! I wonder if their findings hold true across different manufacturers, or if different houses have different standard cuts.
DeleteInteresting, Liz!
DeleteRhys' idea about churning butter sounds like a good idea! I like jigsaw puzzles, though I have the unfortunate habit of losing a piece. I think I have some puzzles somewhere....
ReplyDeleteDiana
Edges first, then dominant features, then sort by color . . . though my neighbor sorts by shape, perhaps better spatial recognition from working in a lab.
ReplyDeleteReminded of a time I started working on a puzzle at my favorite coffee house, a large puzzle of the U.S. with clever illustrations. It was more complex than I'd anticipated, and closing time approached. I hate leaving anything unfinished, so I recruited a young couple at the next table to help me finish. They humored me, but I think they had fun also. ;-)
I'm not a puzzle person, but I like to put broken things together. Just before the pandemic struck, I bought a broken table, in pieces. Legs all unglued, a couple of missing bits, tabletop covered in dirt and something fossilized and sticky... I'm in DIY heaven.
ReplyDeleteGot to try churning butter!
Sarah, it's just a different sort of puzzle!
DeleteI was never one to do jigsaw puzzles - that was what my mother and brother did. Not that that was a reason not to do one; it just never appealed to me. But several years ago on vacation it was a sort of map of Maine, think it was called Vacationland. I thought that would be the perfect souvenir and I have been puzzling ever since.
ReplyDeleteMy favorites to do are 1,000 piece ones with images by Charles Wysocki. But I will do all others as well. A couple years ago my grandson gave me one that was all teeny tiny Coke images (I'm on stupid-making meds right now and can't think of the word for them.) It was very hard even with a magnifying glass but I finally did get all the outside edges done as well as a group of other pieces. Then the cat destroyed it. Maybe someday I'll try again. Maybe.
Because of cats I have learned to keep the WIP covered when I am not working on it. It's a piece of fleece fabric and it works rather well. The cats might sit on it but the puzzle is not bothered.
I do not turn over all the pieces before working them; I don't even take them all out of the box. (My mother would be horrified!) I imagine that wouldn't work with a double-sided puzzle but I've never done any of those. What I do is reach into the box and ind pieces I like and then put them together. What I call the mixed nuts strategy.
There will be times when there is an extra piece in the box - that tends to make me crazy. And sometimes, but not often a piece will be missing. (Usually it can be found on the floor or in a pocket.)
I was working a Will Moses puzzle and a piece was definitely missing. I called the store and they said they couldn't replace the actual piece but they would send me a new puzzle (same title.) When I got that new puzzle I didn't want to work it right away but I did remember where the missing piece had been. I thought it would be hilarious if the new puzzle had a duplicate of my missing piece. They didn't but there was an extra piece!
I used to belong to a Face Book puzzle group but I recently had to leave it. There were just so many new members, all showing their pictures that I wasn't getting many other kinds of posts. Since I spend very little time there at all it got to be too much.
Oh, you folks might be interested in mystery puzzles. The finished image will not be exactly like the one on the box but it will give you the information to solve the mystery, the who and how.
They mystery puzzles sound like just my cup of tea, Judi! And your working method is certainly unique. So fascinating the different ways our brains work!
DeleteI have a few puzzles, but I haven't brought them out. I'm not good at puzzles, and I get frustrated if I'm not making progress. Plus, the area that would work best for them (really, the only place in my condo I could set one up), my dining room table, has become my office for working from home. So even if I wanted to work on one, I wouldn't have the space to do so.
ReplyDeleteSpace is definitely an issue, Mark. Since we don't often eat in our dining room unless we have guests, it is open real estate for the foreseeable future!
DeleteI enjoy puzzles at the cottage -- where they all are! One Christmas, I gave my partner a complicated puzzle without the box, so she had no picture from which to work. And, to boot, I gave her the puzzle pieces in little bags of 25 each day over about two weeks. She had to, literally, puzzle it out. She loved the process -- and her brain really got a workout!
ReplyDeleteMy mother loved crossword puzzles. Me? Not much.
ReplyDeleteI'd be sitting near her, reading (of course!), and she'd say "What's a 5 letter word for___?" I'd start racking my brain and then realize she'd hooked me in! Once I realized, I'd refuse. But there were those moments of transition from reading to trying to answer her that always got me.
I got a 1000 piece puzzle for a Christmas gift so took it to Key West in February and also got puzzle mat to use. With craziness of falling on first day there (bone bruise no break) and the looming Coronavirus situation I couldn’t concentrate so boxed it up then left it in the condo. Maybe some future guest will love it! Crosswords are my strong suit. I LOL at the thought of Rhys churning butter...
ReplyDeleteI heard puzzles are good therapy for Alzheimer and dementia patients. After mom died I loaded a puzzle app on my phone and try to do one daily. It's a phone so the pictures are little, the number of pieces can be adjusted and I thankfully have a stylus for my phone. If I didn't have a stylus, I'd probably want to throw my phone across the room the fifth time I moved too many pieces at the same time. I don't remember a lot of complicated puzzles past the childhood wooden puzzles we had. And I definitely have no room to do them in the apartment. I loved Rhys' comment about making butter, it reminded of the times the cooks in the family would stop the non-cooks that wanted to make the whipped cream for holiday desserts. Always had to stop them before the cream turned to butter.
ReplyDeleteI feel so guilty. I have at least five jigsaw puzzles waiting attention. I thought I'd be working on one by now, but I haven't done so yet. I had bought some before Christmas and as possible gifts, but they now sit in my guest bedroom, new and untouched. Maybe I just need the right person to work a jigsaw puzzle with. I loved working one with my ten-year-old granddaughter, but since she's not available, that just leaves my husband. I don't really want to work one with him because he is way too competitive in games and such, and I want it to be a relaxing activity, not one in which I want to shoot my husband. I long for a proper game table on which I can put a puzzle out and keep it in place. I know once I start the puzzle that I'll like doing it, but I've been distracted by cooking more these days than anything else. I'm reading, but now nearly as much as I want to be. Settling seems to be a problem. Of course, I've had my favorite mental picture for the day by coming here, although late. I will enjoy the pic of Rhys churning butter the rest of the day. Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteLOL! Hobbies really should not end up in mayhem, except on the mystery page, so thank you for your restraint, Kathy!
DeleteHahaha, Gigi! I be there have been some close calls.
DeleteI did puzzles as a kid but not so much as adult. I don't have any issue with anyone who finds they like to do them still. To each their own.
ReplyDeleteMy mother did the occasional puzzle and she gave kid friendly ones at times to the various little ones that were due a gift.
I haven't been tempted to buy them, but recently a puzzle company has started putting out jigsaw puzzles featuring famous album cover art from a variety of rock bands. I suppose if they put one of for a band I liked I might consider buying that just for kicks. Kind of like how I don't drink but want to own a bottle of Trooper ale, the alcoholic beverage Iron Maiden helped create.
I used to love jigsaw puzzles. I had the 1000 piece ones of photographs of places that reminded me of my travels like German castles, English cottages, Southern plantations, etc. After I got myopic degeneration in my left eye, I had to get rid of them because the small pieces and dark shadows got too frustrating. My brother bought me and himself bright colored 300 piece puzzles that we exchanged but since he died, working them hasn't been as much fun. I didn't even get the puzzles out this winter. Jenn, I hid the last piece when I was a kid, too, because Bob used to do the easy stuff and go out to play, while I worked the sky and harder parts. After he came in and put in the last piece several times, I learned to hide one.
ReplyDelete