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Hamburger and Hot Dogs - 1000 pieces

18 x 24, by Puzzlebug.  I'm framing this one for a present, but wouldn't it look great in a restaurant?!

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How To, Part Three

Just one more step I left out!

Usually by the time my puzzle looks like this:



I have sorted out all the rest of the pieces by shape - one on one side and one on the other, like so:



If there are more than two shapes, I sort them into groups with a little space between.  Most puzzles with odd shapes actually have six basic shapes.  Then there are puzzles like that Cats! one I did recently, which defies all puzzle standards :P

PS - Taking pictures of your puzzles can be helpful in different ways, like planning what you'll work next, noticing different shades, spotting the pieces you've knocked to the floor...

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How To, Part Two

Next I find another color - in this case, I found a lot of the relish pieces while I was looking for lettuce pieces.  I sort them all out.



And this brings up another good thing to show - when you have a lot of pieces that look alike, you can usually sort them by shape to make life easier.  For Puzzlebug puzzles like this one, there are two fairly distinct shapes.  I sort the pieces into those two groups.  In this case, longs and shorts.



It makes it much quicker to put together - if you get stuck, you can try each shape until you find the missing piece.  This works really well for plain blue sky!
Soon you will have your part of the puzzle complete...



Which often leads to getting more in the same area done, especially if you're close to other distinctive colors.



And that's basically it. Just keep doing that until all of your puzzle is done. Easy-peasy! Back to progress pics - this puzzle's going down!

How-To, Part One

I have been asked, not so much how to put a puzzle together, but if I do any organizing or anything.  I do, so I thought I'd show you guys with this big puzzle.

I always do the edge pieces (I call it the 'frame') first.



While I'm looking for the edge pieces, I lay most of the others out, right side up, some spread out and some in little piles.



Then I pick a part of the puzzle, near the edge, with a distinct, easy to find color.  For this puzzle, I chose the dark green of the lettuce on the burger.  I spread out all the pieces, and turn the last over if there are any left, and I pick out and put those pieces together as I go, so I don't get bored.



And then it all looks like this:



The frame all together, the pieces all face up, and the puzzle off to a bit of a start.  I'm very lucky to have an unused table big enough for this.  Part Two tomorrow!

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Pleas for Affection - 300 Pieces

24x18, by Ceaco.  Fun and fast.  Very fast.  I like to only post one picture a day, but all of the previous pics were taken in the hour or so it took to finish this puzzle.

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The result of buying yard sale puzzles - some one felt the need to write 'The Dog House' on this one in permanent marker.  See it on the door?

Oh, well.  Wasn't planning on saving this one, anyway.

9-19

When they said 'oversized pieces', they weren't joking.  Look at these things!




The one on the left is from the castle I just finished.

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Results from Gluing

Back in July (I think) I tried gluing a puzzle for the first time.  I meant to post my results but I forgot.  Here's the puzzle:




It's not too bad, but it is wavy, especially down the middle.  This is because I followed the instructions and laid it on newspaper.  The newspaper was wavy, and this puzzle wasn't heavy enough to flatten it.  Since I'd already started gluing when I saw this, I couldn't stop.  I've glued more since, and used a large piece of sturdy cardboard with cling wrap on it. Much better results; unfortunately I've given all those puzzles away.  The next one I do, I'll remember to take a finished pic.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany - 500 Pieces

19x14 - unknown company, but since it came in a bag and the picture is like it is, my guess would be that it came from one of those 10-in-a-box puzzle sets, like you can buy at WalMart.

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This one's a classic - I've seen so many puzzles of this castle but this is the first I'm actually doing.  I also have a 1000 piece puzzle at a slightly different angle that I will get around to someday :D  I bought this puzzle in a baggie at a yard sale, so here's hoping it has all the pieces!

Michelangelo's David - 60 pieces

5x7

Cats! Cats! Cats! - 1000 pieces

30x24. by Springbok.  I paid $2 for this puzzle at a yard sale.  Despite the frustration, it was worth it!  This one was a real challenge.  Those horribly shaped, worn and frayed pieces!  How does it manage to look so shiny now that it's done?!

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Only six more cats to go!

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These pieces have such weird shapes!  And this puzzle has also been claimed by my sister; she wants to hang it on her wall :D

Big Ben - 60 Pieces

Random puzzle! 5x7, don't remember the company name.

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9-5

It's getting a little less chaotic.

Like Little Potato Chips

Since my cat puzzle is taking so long, I got this little set out.



Tiny puzzles like these are kinda like that old Lays commercial - you can't do just one!  But I'm going to try to just do one at a time when the other puzzle gets to me, so they will be randomly popping up in the next few days.

9-3

Okay, so this one is taking a while.  It took me two days to finish the outline, one whole cat, one almost whole cat (needs its last ear) one partial cat and a few bits of cats.



It's getting a tiny bit easier as I go, but I think this one is going to take a little while.  The pieces are also old and worn, and sometimes hard to push together.  This is the last time this puzzle will be put together; I don't think it will make it through another time and my sister has claimed it for her wall, so its new destiny is to be finished and glued.

9-2

Okay, so I don't have the edges completely done.  They look like this:



I'm giving up for now because I just can't find the other pieces.  It's not that I think they're not there, it's just that there are dozens upon dozens of pieces (see almost ALL of those on the table?) that look like this:



One of those is an edge piece.  Can you guess which one?

Also, I could only find two corners.  I was about to give up and say they were gone, when I realized that a puzzle as wonky as this probably had some trick to at least one corner.  I was right; the two missing corners turned out to be four different pieces.  Like so:



This puzzle is being really hard.  So yay, a challenge!  I'm going to just work on the individual cats, though, and let the remaining edge pieces turn up as they may.

PS - The edge piece was the smaller one, on the left.  The other one belongs to a cat in the middle of the puzzle.

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