I always do the edge first, and then areas with a unique color.
For example, with the above, after doing the four sides,I would work on that red roof of the bridge, then the water(working first on the pieces with the printing), and the grass and trees last.

I have one in the corner cabinet that has been there since LAST Christmas. Haven't had time to work on it and have been a little afraid to try it with the cats! Used to do them all the time! The WVU Student Clinic always has one for people to work on while they wait for their appointment. Maybe all MD offices should try that! LOL

That is a wonderful idea for the student clinic. I would love to work on a puzzle while I waited for ANY appointment.

Trin

I looked for one a few days ago when I had to go to Wal Mart. All they had was some super easy ones for smaller kids. It's been a few years since I've worked one, but I enjoy them. The more pieces the better.

Linda

I haven't done jigsaw puzzles for long time now.
When I used to do them, I would get all the edge pieces out and put those together to get the size of it. Then I would pull the pieces out like ones for the bridge, then the blue for the water ones and then the trees.

Also I would arrange the colour or picture that I wanted to do all out on the table or boxes and then I would look at what piece I would be looking for; the shape of it. And then pull out all those shapes first and keep trying and trying.

We are big time jigsawers. Just finished a 1000 piece Christmas themed one last evening. When the batteries are charged I'll post a picture. Now to decide which to do next. I have piles of them given to me by a very good friend who buys new and passes them on to others. I never need to purchase another puzzle in this lifetime, LOL. Budster

My oncologists office always has one going in the waiting room.When it's all done they take a picture of it,and note the date it was started and finished,and they keep the album on the table for us to look thru.I think it's a great idea.
Kathi

I haven't done a real jigsaw for a long time but used to enjoy them. Now I have a programme to do them on my computer using my saved pictures, family photos etc. Not as satisfying as the real thing but I like them, especially in the middle of the night when I cannot sleep. I mostly do the edges first and then unique colours or writing as does Monica. Sometimes I decide to be different and start towards the centre and work my way out. Jigsaws are supposed to be very helpful in keeping the brain active. Not sure it works in my case though, Beth

This is one that I posted a week or so ago on the daily picture thread. Since then I finished a 550 piecer and am now in the middle of another.

I miss doing them but with a cat around I do the internet puzzles. When my BIL would come to town for Christmas the first thing he would do is put up Mom's cardtable and get out the jugsaw puzzles.

I've got one I'm going to start in the next couple of weeks. 1000 pieces of a castle I visited in France two summers ago, I recognized it on the box and had to buy it. My husband, who is not a puzzler and resents having it spread out on the dining room table, is going away for 6 months and I will tackle it then. Looking forward to it.

Yuk, don't think I'd like to have my hands all over a puzzle in a docs office.... maybe a dentist office or other places where you have to wait a while... not someplace where people cough and sneeze into their hands! Not eveyone is nasty but still... LOL. I, love them, too, but the cat can be a pain with the pieces. I also do the edges and then dive into the rest!

My grandmother started one every New Years Eve. I haven't worked on one in years, until we were in Indiana getting some work done on the motor home. It got me started again! We never did finish it. I bought DH one with a steam train on it for Christmas. I think when the tree comes down, I will put up the card table and start it. There were so many pretty ones out this year. I know Walmart had tons for all different ages and difficulties.

For those with cats, as long as they don't bother you while you are working on them, can you cover it with a piece of fabric and fasten it to the card table with clothes pins to keep the cats out of it when you aren't working on it? Would that work? We don't have cats, but I thought it might help.

Tami

I started one last year right after Christmas. But then Spring finally came, and I started going to the river/cabin. I put it away. I may get it out again, and set it up in the guest bedroom. Cats won't get in there because I keep the door shut. It'll have to wait until my cousin leaves. She's coming the 15th-19th from Scottsdale, AZ. Silly girl. Don't she remember how cold it gets here in Nebraska??
Leslie

I can get into a good puzzle once in a while. MouKat really likes puzzles, well, he likes anything he can steal - he has his own "puzzle" that I get out for him if we are doing one, it's just a box with a few random pieces from old puzzles but it mostly keeps him away from the one we are working on.
Suzan J

As a kid, we always had jigsaw puzzles to put together on the cardtable in the living room.

Haven't done one in YEARS!

I LOVE jigsaw puzzles! I used to get on kicks and do them in the winter. My mom would also buy them at garage sales for her beach house and have me "test" them to make sure all the pieces were there. Nothing more annoying then almost getting finished to find there are a few missing!

I do most of the traditional ones, but I have a few that you have to read a mystery and the answer is shown in the puzzle. So you do'nt know what the finished puzzle looks like-very challenging. I also have a few 3D ones. That's about as hard as I want to get!

My tricks are the same as Monica's. Always do the outside edge first, then group like colors together. Work on the small details first and piece it together.

I've never heard of them in a doc office-that's an interesting concept. I wouldn't want to leave!

I believe it was Moni that posted a long time ago this website where you can do "virtual" puzzles. At the time, I thought it would be boring and couldn't believe anyone would like it. Now 2 kids later and no way to do puzzles here, I love the site! I'm able to do as eay or hard as I like and my DD likes the auto solve feature! lol

Here is a link that might be useful: Jigzone

That was my first thought...same as Orie's. I hate touching anything in an office of any kind...'specially a doctor's office. I used to do puzzles all the time when my kids were small....lot's of fun!

I do a daily one on the computer. called Universal Jigsaw. You pick the # of pieces etc. Only problem, is the pictures are so beatiful, and you cannot print them out.

I love Jigsaws too!
Often they show up on our Freecycle, so I can pick up several for free.

I like the real hard ones. I've got a number that have the picture on both sides, which are awesome to do. The hardest one I had, which I couldn't even do, had no edges. It was all goldfish in water, so the whole thing was blue and orange, and no edges to get your started.

I love jigsaw puzzles, but don't do them often anymore because most of my time is now spent quilting.

But I do the daily jigsaw puzzles at shockwave.com - love their puzzles.

I go to Jigzone too everyday. I love doing those.
Leslie

DH just finished this one, he makes them all the time but i don't.
{{gwi:1584399}}

Have any of you done the 3D puzzles? I did the 3D Medieval Castle with my mentee and a couple of her school friends. It was fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: 3D Jigsaws

As a kid I used to do jigsaws, but now I just don't have the patience!

I just started on a 1000 piece Ravensburger Puzzle.I bought it at Hobby Lobby. It is an called Nostalgisches Paris. I can't wait to get it finished. It will be 20x27. I bought puzzle glue and a frame. The frame measures 22x28. I was going to add a mat but that was $20.00 dollars. Anyone have any ideas what I can do to fix this?
The last puzzle I bought (1000) came from the Sal. Army (hardest puzzle I ever worked) had two pieces missing. I used the pieces close to the holes,scanned them and color printed them at 100%.I picked out the one's that matched closest.I then trimmed and filled the holes with decorating gel. Then I just glues the pieces on. You couldn't even tell where I replaced them. I usually put my puzzles under glass on my bar in the kitchen.I change them when I get tired of one. I then use the glass to set hot dishes on.
Thanks for the great posts. Everyone stay cozy and warm. Have a good day!! Maxine

I used to keep one going at all times. I had a card table set up with a lamp and two chairs in front of the window where I used to live. Once overtime took over my life I quit working them, but I sure do like them. I looked for some to buy at Wal Mart a day or so after Christmas, but the one I was at didn't have any except a few for very young kids.

Linda

My wife does jigsaw puzzles when house bound by cold weather like right now. She can put together a 1000 piece puzzle in less than two days. Our closets are bulging with boxes of puzzles. We gave away 4 puzzles and thew out 5 last year. (We discard puzzles with missing pieces unless these are well liked.) The closets are bulging again.

Right now, she is working on a 1000 piece puzzle in which there are only 16 shapes for the pieces. The series of shapes repeats after every 16th piece. Lots of opportunity for errors!

Several years ago, I gave my wife two 3-D puszzles: one was a castle and the other a cut-away view of a pyramid. After assembling these she would not take them apart for storage. They have been gatering dust on top of our stereo set in the living room.

Places like Fleet Farm, Walmart, and Target have puzzles at reduced prices at this time of the year as they clear their shelves. By the end of January, there will be none on the shelves.

I love doing jigsaw puzzles and never thought of taking a picture of the finished project. LOL My friends and I do puzzles all the time. I like the Springbok puzzles from Hallmark the best but have done others.

My favourite puzzles are "mystery" puzzles, the ones you don't have a picture of. LOL I never look at the box when I am doing a puzzle either - takes the fun away.

I just got a 1000 piece puzzle on sale at Hallmark for half price and it is sitting on the kitchen table waiting for me to start.

When I have lost a puzzle piece and I know I am going to do the puzzle in the future or lend it out I take the the small section of the puzzle where the piece is missing and lay it in the lid of the box and then I outline the missing piece so I know what to look for when doing it again and know that a piece is missing.

I do the edge pieces first and then I start from the bottom and try to work from left to right half way up the puzzle then I do the upper half when the bottom half is finished.

Anne

I love them! I basically do them, as Moni does.
What I love best is that-in the winter..(I always have one going on my dining room table other than holiday time).. it just tickles me when puzzle hating neighbors & friends pop in? They cannot walk by the table without trying to find a few pieces! LOL!