|
Post by librarylady on Aug 4, 2022 2:26:19 GMT
I had a round puzzle that featured famous women...I did it from the center, as the center was something distinctive.
|
|
|
Post by SallyPA on Aug 4, 2022 2:32:08 GMT
I love puzzles. But I am picky. Must be 1000-1500 pieces. And made by a brand I trust (no cheapie random brand), which ensures thick, well-cut pieces. It also must be a puzzle with variety in the picture. I do not want to do one that has 100 green pieces that have no color or pattern variation- that is not fun to me.
I used to do edges first, but then I decided to try something different. I typically start at whatever section is most noticeable and jumps out at me first. Then move to another section. Then another and so on. And do the edges as I go along. And then piece it all together at the end.
|
|
pilcas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,147
Aug 14, 2015 21:47:17 GMT
|
Post by pilcas on Aug 4, 2022 2:37:06 GMT
I do the edges first. As for getting rid of the box…you might as well get rid of the puzzle!
|
|
|
Post by librarylady on Aug 4, 2022 2:41:58 GMT
I agree with SallyPA that the cheap puzzles ruin the experience. The pieces won't fit well and pop up after put in place. Grandson gives us a 1,000 piece puzzle every Christmas. Some have been very difficult, but all in all they are fun to work and complete the challenge.
|
|
mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,696
Oct 2, 2017 23:20:46 GMT
|
Post by mich5481 on Aug 4, 2022 2:56:47 GMT
I did a mystery story puzzle, where there was a little booklet with a murder mystery, and then you put the puzzle together to help you solve it.
The picture on the box had nothing to do with the actual puzzle! I started with the edges, and then the pieces that had a lot of patterns. I then got a little stuck, as there was a ton of brown in the puzzle. Near the end, I resorted the pieces by shape, as it was easier to figure out what type of piece was needed next.
It took me well over a month to finish it by myself. After I was finished, I took pictures of it, and then took it apart. I have some friends who do a lot of puzzles, and passed it on to them. It also took them forever, even after I sent them my pictures! 🤣
|
|
|
Post by mymindseyedpea on Aug 4, 2022 3:52:58 GMT
As a kid I think I always started with the edge pieces. Corners were jackpots lol
The puzzle I’m working on now I started by just grabbing “random” pieces from the box and putting them on the table.
When I did one of Mickey that is a bunch of Mirco mini slides from cartoons, I did the frame first and then I put the pieces of the ground in one box and the sky pieces in another.
I started getting all these “Earth and Sky” signs show up during that time I was putting the puzzle together. I don’t think it even clicked for me until I finished the puzzle and started another doing the same way with the bottom and top.
Mickey’s puzzle ended up having two pieces missing. One from the earth and one from the sky. I told my friend and she said her daughter put together a Mickey puzzle together too and had two pieces missing as well.
One day I found a piece to the puzzle. I still had it out and was so excited lol
|
|
|
Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 4, 2022 4:35:25 GMT
I pick out all the edge pieces to assemble first but sort out obvious like with like pieces and put those together off to the side. I recently did a 1000 piece puzzle mostly by myself and that was how I did it. Toward the end, DD came and helped finish it mostly because she was supposed to go to bed but was stalling, LOL.
We’ve been picking some fun puzzles that we ultimately want to glue together to hang up on the walls at our lake cabin. I’ve been sliding them onto a big piece of brown kraft paper and stacking them up on an extra table until I get a chance to glue them together and eventually frame them.
I don’t think I would ever want to do the same puzzle twice. The challenge would be gone so it wouldn’t be as fun. DH bought DD and me some really neat shaped puzzles at Christmas that have brightly colored wooden pieces and have lots of unique pieces shaped like animals and things. I need to remember to bring them to the cabin so we can put them together.
|
|
|
Post by gillyp on Aug 4, 2022 7:17:29 GMT
When DS1 was a toddler he was having an over-tired tantrum so I settled him in bed for a sleep. After a while I went back to wake him and discovered he had emptied the contents of 5 jigsaws onto the floor and mixed up all the pieces. These were 500/1000 piece jigsaws, not toddler ones. It took some weeks to sort them back to their original boxes.
|
|
|
Post by gar on Aug 4, 2022 8:26:46 GMT
When DS1 was a toddler he was having an over-tired tantrum so I settled him in bed for a sleep. After a while I went back to wake him and discovered he had emptied the contents of 5 jigsaws onto the floor and mixed up all the pieces. These were 500/1000 piece jigsaws, not toddler ones. It took some weeks to sort them back to their original boxes. 😲😲 😆
|
|
|
Post by gar on Aug 4, 2022 8:29:27 GMT
Does anyone follow puzzlesbynathan on Insta? Now there’s a man with a system!
|
|
|
Post by monklady123 on Aug 4, 2022 10:28:05 GMT
I had a round puzzle that featured famous women...I did it from the center, as the center was something distinctive. I have this same puzzle! In fact, I bought it during the lockdown phase of the pandemic, maybe because you posted about it? I feel like I saw it here on this board which is why I bought it.
|
|
kibblesandbits
Pearl Clutcher
At the corner of Awesome and Bombdiggity
Posts: 3,305
Aug 13, 2016 13:47:39 GMT
|
Post by kibblesandbits on Aug 4, 2022 11:08:43 GMT
When DS1 was a toddler he was having an over-tired tantrum so I settled him in bed for a sleep. After a while I went back to wake him and discovered he had emptied the contents of 5 jigsaws onto the floor and mixed up all the pieces. These were 500/1000 piece jigsaws, not toddler ones. It took some weeks to sort them back to their original boxes. I'm amazed you resorted them! I'd have just gotten the broom . . . Most of the time - edges first. However, the one I'm working rn has a single color edge and it's driving me nuts so I headed to the center and am working inside out. I, too, hate cheap puzzles. Galison, Mudpenny, and the like are my favorites. I also like distinct images, and dislike landscapes.
|
|
|
Post by monklady123 on Aug 4, 2022 12:35:09 GMT
Some of you have commented about what type of image you want on your puzzles which reminded me of my friend who throws away the boxes so no one can look at the photo.... She also LOVES puzzles with a lot of sky or water or mountains that are all one color. I like her despite her weirdness. lol. I like a bit of a challenge but honestly I do puzzles to relax not to stress over 950 (out of 1,000) pieces that are all the same color. I'm thinking of a puzzle I saw not too long ago when I was just browsing online... It was a sailboat on the ocean. The sailboat was red. The ocean was blue shades. The sky was blue shades. Nothing else in the photo. . That would be a hard nope for me. Except for the red sailboat. hahaha
|
|
|
Post by thundergal on Aug 4, 2022 13:31:16 GMT
We do jigsaws a lot at our house. I am the one who opens them. I don’t like to just dump them out because then the cardboard dust goes everywhere. I take a handful at a time out of the bag and place them so they’re face up onto two sides of the counter - one side for edges, one side for non edges. I put the 4 corners up on the bar right above the counter. That way everything is organized and set up when my kids come to start doing the puzzle. I like to work the edges first, but I don’t care what my kids start working on. We don’t re work puzzles, so I take them apart just enough to put them back in the box (no taking every piece apart or keeping the edges separate or getting plastic baggies or anything). I either sell them on FB or take them to Half Price Books when we have a load to sell. Half Price Books will buy puzzles? I wonder if they would also accept them as a donation?
|
|
|
Post by workingclassdog on Aug 4, 2022 13:43:41 GMT
I gotta get that round puzzle for my oldest DD. She would LOVE it. Us two are the only ones that do puzzles.
Can't do cheap puzzles.. nope.
Don't do Thomas Kincaid types or those landscape kind.. YUCK.. I even bought two Disney Kincaid's at the thrift store.. I lasted about one hour before I gave up. They are cute though.
My favorites are the ones that have lots of different colors, patterns, like 1950 diners, antique stores, cereal boxes/candy/etc. Lots of stuff going on.
White Mountain is my favorite for the price. They are pretty cheap and good enough. There are some that are better but more money.
I follow a guy on TikTok.. He's doing a 40,000+ Disney puzzle.. it's over six feet long. He is really good. He is a truck driver and does smaller ones while on the road. Weekend nights are for the big one.
Oh:
Edges first, a general sort and flipping, then organizing by color/pattern/words. I use the box or insert for reference. Ziplock bag after finishing and back in box. I really wish I had a fun place to just put finished puzzles. So back in the box they go. I don't mind doing a puzzle over as long as there is a lot of time in-between.
Also, mainly 1,000 pieces although 1,500-2,000 are okay.
|
|
Orangutan
Junior Member
Posts: 72
Location: Australia
Dec 21, 2019 6:03:37 GMT
|
Post by Orangutan on Aug 4, 2022 14:19:44 GMT
I always have a puzzle on the go. I like 1000 piece ones as everything fits on my desk well. I sort through all the pieces and put them into groups of the same shape. Then I put the edges together. I then spread every piece out in its group so I can see every single piece of the jigsaw puzzle on the desk. I then go with obvious colour or pattern matches and work from there. By having them sorted by shape it means you don’t have to look through every piece as it’s obvious certain ones wouldn’t fit. When done I take a photo and leave it for a couple of days to have a look at. Then I break it up, put it back in the box and start another one.
|
|
|
Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 4, 2022 14:36:04 GMT
We do jigsaws a lot at our house. I am the one who opens them. I don’t like to just dump them out because then the cardboard dust goes everywhere. I take a handful at a time out of the bag and place them so they’re face up onto two sides of the counter - one side for edges, one side for non edges. I put the 4 corners up on the bar right above the counter. That way everything is organized and set up when my kids come to start doing the puzzle. I like to work the edges first, but I don’t care what my kids start working on. We don’t re work puzzles, so I take them apart just enough to put them back in the box (no taking every piece apart or keeping the edges separate or getting plastic baggies or anything). I either sell them on FB or take them to Half Price Books when we have a load to sell. Half Price Books will buy puzzles? I wonder if they would also accept them as a donation? Instead of giving them to Half Price Books which will sell them for a profit, I would ask around at senior living and assisted living places in your area to see if they want them. Most of the places in my area are always looking for new puzzles to put out in their open areas where residents and their families can gather since the resident “apartments” tend to be small. The memory care place my mom was in the last year of her life would rotate through the puzzles they owned but loved getting new ones they could put out. It’s a relaxing, low stress thing that families can do together with their loved ones because even people with memory issues can help do them.
|
|
|
Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 4, 2022 14:39:21 GMT
Some of you have commented about what type of image you want on your puzzles which reminded me of my friend who throws away the boxes so no one can look at the photo.... She also LOVES puzzles with a lot of sky or water or mountains that are all one color. I like her despite her weirdness. lol. I like a bit of a challenge but honestly I do puzzles to relax not to stress over 950 (out of 1,000) pieces that are all the same color. I'm thinking of a puzzle I saw not too long ago when I was just browsing online... It was a sailboat on the ocean. The sailboat was red. The ocean was blue shades. The sky was blue shades. Nothing else in the photo. . That would be a hard nope for me. Except for the red sailboat. hahaha The last two we put together were super fun. They had images of assorted kitschy camp/ cabin/ lake signs that were pretty easy to assemble and will look great on the wall at our lake cabin. I’d like to find a couple more like that, we have a lot of empty walls!
|
|
pinklady
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,922
Nov 14, 2016 23:47:03 GMT
|
Post by pinklady on Aug 4, 2022 15:01:14 GMT
|
|
|
Post by thundergal on Aug 4, 2022 15:03:31 GMT
crazy4scraps Thanks! I made a few phone calls to nursing homes/assisted living centers yesterday and was kind of blown off and passed around. It was surprising. BUT...I left a message for a woman at a mental health hospital in a small town about 30 minutes from where I live. She just called me back and said they would be thrilled to have them. So I'm driving them out on Saturday. Pumped to be taking them there. I have so many.
|
|
|
Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 4, 2022 15:16:42 GMT
crazy4scraps Thanks! I made a few phone calls to nursing homes/assisted living centers yesterday and was kind of blown off and passed around. It was surprising. BUT...I left a message for a woman at a mental health hospital in a small town about 30 minutes from where I live. She just called me back and said they would be thrilled to have them. So I'm driving them out on Saturday. Pumped to be taking them there. I have so many. I’m really surprised that that was the reaction you got! The place my mom was at would have jumped at the chance to get them, in fact they would frequently put in their newsletters to family members that they were always on the lookout for new ones to add into their rotation since they would retire the older ones that had been assembled a several times, pieces got lost or damaged, etc. I’m so glad your puzzles will have a new home and more people will be able to enjoy them!
|
|
|
Post by katlady on Aug 4, 2022 15:20:00 GMT
I’ve been to our local senior center. They have a room with all their jigsaw puzzles in it and that room is packed with puzzles!! Tons of them, piled high on bookcases and tables. So, I give mine to Goodwill now. Maybe I’ll look into giving them to a senior home.
|
|
|
Post by tentoes on Aug 4, 2022 15:33:40 GMT
edges first, and I always look at the picture on the box to figure out the rest of the puzzle. We recently worked on one at my daughter's home that was a trick puzzle. You put the first part together, then the other part gets put together by pulling the puzzle apart, and inserting the other pieces. That puzzle came in two boxes--or two sections--I don't remember!!
|
|
|
Post by joteves on Aug 4, 2022 17:09:41 GMT
I love puzzles and always have one on the go. I prefer 1000 or 1500 pieces but I have done a few quick and easy 500 piece ones. I am very picky about the quality of the puzzle and the image. People know that I love puzzles and often give me one as a present for my birthday or Christmas but although I appreciate the gesture, I don't like doing puzzles with images that don't inspire me. For example I hate landscapes and tacky photos of famous places. I love fun colourful images or whimsical ones. Galison has great puzzles and luckily I can get them quite easily in Portugal through The Book Depository.
PS. Edges first obvs.
|
|
|
Post by thundergal on Aug 4, 2022 18:25:14 GMT
crazy4scraps Thanks! I made a few phone calls to nursing homes/assisted living centers yesterday and was kind of blown off and passed around. It was surprising. BUT...I left a message for a woman at a mental health hospital in a small town about 30 minutes from where I live. She just called me back and said they would be thrilled to have them. So I'm driving them out on Saturday. Pumped to be taking them there. I have so many. I’m really surprised that that was the reaction you got! The place my mom was at would have jumped at the chance to get them, in fact they would frequently put in their newsletters to family members that they were always on the lookout for new ones to add into their rotation since they would retire the older ones that had been assembled a several times, pieces got lost or damaged, etc. I’m so glad your puzzles will have a new home and more people will be able to enjoy them! I agree with you! I thought it would be the easiest pawning off of stuff filling my closet I'd ever experienced! Maybe I just caught a few people on bad days. Thanks for your input!
|
|
|
Post by hopemax on Aug 4, 2022 18:54:46 GMT
My Dad always did a bunch of puzzles when I was a kid. But he is a "need to lay out all the pieces while doing a 3000 piece puzzle" kind of puzzler. So the dining table, with all the leaves in it, plus a card table. During pandemic he had a couple 4000 piece puzzles, so he had to get some acrylic sheets that he could put pieces on and stack, since he didn't have enough room otherwise.
So I grew up liking doing puzzles too. But I am an "in the box" puzzler. I will pull out edges, and pieces of similar color that I think go together. Otherwise, I leave all my pieces in the box. My Dad doesn't understand how I can do a puzzle so fast just by moving pieces around a box so much. When I get down to just sky or water I will lay them out, but that's when I'm down to a couple hundred pieces not 1000 pieces all laid out somewhere. My preference is big puzzles. I would love to have space to do those 20K puzzles. We have a table that's big enough to do 3000 pieces, but now that DH works from home, it's his work table. So I mostly just do 1000 piece puzzles. Which works better with our asshole of a cat. I can usually finish a 1000 piece puzzle in about a day and a half, easier ones, less than a day. So he can't cause too much trouble with it
|
|