Anyone like to chat about jigsaws?

[thefinaltwist]

I've only very recently started a jigsaw and so far I'm really enjoying it! I'm sick fed up of aimlessly scrolling on my phone every evening until bedtime. I feel like I'm wasting so much time! I'm a reader but a few chapters at a time is my limit before my mind starts to wonder or I find myself skim reading, even when I'm really enjoying the book this happens. Also in the evenings I used to cross stitch and I had started to learn how to crochet ( very basic level ) and all of this has fallen to the side in favour at staring at a screen.

So this year I've decided to make more of an effort to get back into these hobbies and thats when I decided to try jigsaws.

I got my first jigsaw from the charity shop last week for £1.50 ( love a bargain ) its a garden bird scene with a watering can, various flowers and some insects ( 1000 piece ) not sure if that was a bit adventurous 😂I'm around halfway and I have to admit I'm thoroughly enjoying the challenge! It's very satisfying watching it come together slowly.

I've got another charity shop find lined up to do next its a 500 piece old fashioned greengrocers.

So if anyone would like to chat please feel free 🙂

@trulyunruly01 that’s a lovely tradition!

I did this one recently and my 9yr old Lego fanatic couldn’t help himself joining in. Nice to do it together.

I find doing a puzzles makes me more open minded and less patronising.
I'd argue there is skill involved, but that's neither here nor there.
Most people find them relaxing. The activities where your hands are occupied that allow your brain to switch off are very good for you.

I generally do them at the end of the day when I get my little window of time after my full time job, being a single parent, and enjoying my other activities, that "pointless waste of time" is my unwind time. And there is an end goal. I imagine a puzzle that never ended would not be so appealing.

I always listen to the radio or an audio book at the same time.

Do you not doing anything 'just because' classicalg

I think this is going to be harder than you think! I had a similar one of a bookshelf.
The ones with an individual detail on each piece can be as challenging as the 'all sky' ones!

I started the Ankh Morpork puzzle but it is fiendishly difficult, especially when the cats try to help me. Perhaps it wasn't the best first choice to get me back into jigsawing.

I am in the process of clearing out a room in my house which has my big pine table in. Hopefully soon I'll have a space where I can leave the jigsaw out and just do a bit whenever I feel the urge.

I like to do jigsaws while listening to the radio/an audiobook.

It helps me slow down, which is something I'm practising for the sake of my mental health - a bit like mindfulness. I am relearning the art of relaxing.

Luckily I have a friends who is a member of a sports club that has jigsaw puzzles in their clubhouse - you pay 50p to borrow one for as long as you like, so I have an endless supply for next to nothing. I have sometimes bought one in a charity shop then donated it to the shared supply as well once I've finished it.

I like the 750-1000 size, and not too much all the same colour!

Oh, and I do them on the dining table. One of my New Year resolutions is to get a board the same size as the table, then put it over the puzzle when I want to use it as a dining table - easier than doing the puzzle on the board, and then finding somewhere to store the board (although the above mentioned friend slides her board under the sofa)

I find it quite distracting and addictive. Was getting a bit frustrated last night trying to find a robins leg so went away pottered about and when I came back there is was right in front of me 🙂

I got mine from the builders merchants. Just a thin bit of ply wood or something.

StarInTheHeavens · Today 09:15

I enjoy a jigsaw but I have no patience over 500 pieces. I'm very methodical, I make sets of colours & then sets of shapes to make it easier. Does anyone else do this?

I'm going to start doing this ,I also have little patience and really struggle .I do them ,rarely,with a friend who just hones in on the correct piece with no trouble at all while I watch in despair .Sorting will be perfect for me .

I like art jigsaws/famous paintings. My main issue is finding something to do it on - I need something that’s big enough for 1000 pieces but rigid enough that I can have it on my lap on the sofa in the evenings.

Last puzzle I did was a 500 piece Birth of Venus.

I started doing them when my Dad was having cancer treatment, it really helped me switch off as I became so absorbed in the puzzle. Carried on through lockdown.
I like the Laurence King ones to and recently did the Jane Austen one.
Will have to buy a new one now!

I love a five hundred piece Jigsaw.
1000 no!

I got given one of these at Christmas and I'm really enjoying it: www.josierussell.com/category/jigsaw

The images are of patchwork, so there are lots of different patters within the pictures.

Me & DH always do one at Christmas, for exactly the reasons you say. Gets us both off our phones & doing something together.

I really enjoyed this one.

www.laurenceking.com/products/the-world-of-frida-kahlo

For those with limited space, I have this roller (hope link works)

I lay it on the coffee table and then roll it up and put away when we need the table back.

I am coveting the tilted boards as leaning over the coffee table has given me back ache.

LifeStyleMall Jigsaw Mat – Jigsaw Puzzle Roll Mat - Puzzle Storage Mat – Jigsaw Accessory - Portable Puzzle Mat 500, 1000, 1500 Pieces – Premium Felt Material amzn.eu/d/7b5smL0

In the image I uploaded, the size of the puzzle shown is 500 pieces, so can accommodate larger puzzles. I lay different groups of pieces around it and then roll up.

I love a jigsaw too. I find them quite soothing. I love doing Lego too for the same reason. Jigsaws are cheaper though!

currently doing a nice Christmassy one.

I use one of the folding jigsaw mats. There are lots on Amazon.

Oh I like the roller idea. Mine is just a solid mat

I recently deleted all social
Media due to too much scrolling. I have two puzzles from last Christmas still in plastic wrapping but I have no where to do them really.
Also once I start a puzzle I struggle to stop and don't stop till it's finished. Can literally do a puzzle within a 24 hour time period if DD and DH leaves me alone haha but then I'm the same with books!

I'm currently doing the Ravensburger Crazy Cats jigsaw.

It's infuriating. Lots of similar colours.

A few years ago I got an Animal Crossing jigsaw for Christmas and there was a piece missing!

Love a jigsaw, don't always have on the go (in fact it is often months without one and then I do a couple one after another) but when I do it is very relaxing.

Always use a puzzle board as it means it can be folded away, have more than one but I think my favourite is a PortaPuzzle. The dining table is the best place to do them but agree that putting them under the sofa is the best way to store an incomplete one.

Have recently started doing Wasgij.
Owned a couple for some time but never got around to doing them. Having completed my first one yesterday I immediately started the next one and was up until 1:30am getting the edge laid out! They add a new level of complexity but are great fun (these are the 1000-piece ones).

After finishing a jigsaw I take a photo and then put it away for next time. The photo is to prove all pieces are present (in case I decide to give it away) or in the case of the Wasgij, to show what the picture actually is.

I only have one framed and on a wall.
It is an especially personal one as it was bought by my late parents and is of a subject I am very interested in. it is huge (2000-piece I think) but beautifully framed and takes pride of place in my home office / hobby room.

We have just finished this one, I found it in a charity shop just after Christmas 2021 and tucked it away to do this Christmas as it didn't feel right at any other time of year. Although there's quite a lot of variety in the picture it was still quite challenging as there were lots of different areas that were white, green, red etc so the pieces didn't all go where we thought they would. Even the DCs get involved, we have no floor space but we do have a small drop leaf table which we set up and everyone picks around at the pieces over a few days. DH started a jigsaw at Christmas a few years ago and it's becoming a bit of a family tradition. I prefer 1000 pieces and Ravensburger always seem reliable, we have had some unbranded jigsaws but those pieces don't always fit together very well.
I do have one jigsaw we had to put away unfinished because it was so impossible, it's another Ravensburger one of a wholesale market selling only oranges. Honestly about 900 of the 1000 pieces were just oranges, it was near impossible but I'm determined to complete it one day.