I have a diagonal bias pinwheel pattern going into my sunroom on the new house as I write this that has 12x12 field tiles in white and 3x3 blue tiles for the accents. It is a really tricky pattern and a lesson in geometry. If I were you I'd politely ask the tile guy "how much do I owe you for the work already done" and then go hire somebody else. But that's me. You need to be happy with what you're getting done. Uneven grout lines or bad cuts are not part of a tile job IMO. When I order tile for a complicated pattern I figure at least 15% waste overage, not the standard 10%. When I had my sunroom on the current house done that tile shop only did 10% overage it too had a pinwheel pattern and the tile setter guy ran out of tile only a few pieces short of the field tile. The shop had to overnight the tile from Texas and they ate $100 worth of freight charges for one stinkin box of tile. I payed for the tile but they payed for the freight - they offered w/o me even asking. I would go to a tile shop in your local area. I tend to not trust HD and Lowes for my contracting stuff. But that's only IMO. But I've been lucky and I have a great GC and his subs have so far been great. I know I may come off harsh, but something my BF keeps reminding me is "you are the customer". I hate confrontation as much as the next person, but I try to do it in the politest terms and move on... Easy to say, hard to do. Good luck. Cheers, --jans

I love Ravensburgers, too! Cobbler Hill is another high quality one. Nothing less than 1,000 pieces for me. One of my favourite kind is where both sides are printed. The design is the same, but one side is turned 90°, It's called the World's Impossible Puzzle. I'mstillchloecat, I no sooner sit down to work at my puzzle and someone invariably jumps right on it.

Those sorting boxes aren't very big, so not as many pieces are viewable at once as in a larger tray or whatever. The sorting boxes could be helpful, though, and maybe they are a good gift to a jigsaw puzzler. Yeonassky--with a 2000 piece puzzle you would need a lot of sorting space! Are you the one who works without looking at the picture???? Fun--those mats look very handy. I'd only have room for one. Yellow color is helpful. lgmd--shoebox lid....brilliant. The sides aren't too high to shade the pieces near the edge. I do find with the cake pans and box lid that the sides are a little high. jkay-- paper plates another good idea, maybe the firm white ones (not slippery, not print). foggy--baking sheets would be good as well because of the low sides. sushi--cake pans, yes, are good. I found a pie pan today which might work too. Thanks everyone, Happy puzzling. I splurged and bought a $20 puzzle today, but I'm looking forward to working it and it will take me a while.

Dee, thanks for that link. I've been using jigsawexplorer.com, but this one is better. I wouldn't try the Heinz puzzle. I like a challenge, but that's just frustration. Since we've been at home, I have been doing puzzles from my in-laws collection. The one I'm doing now has a large area of sky that is just white. I cannot make any headway on that spot, and it's annoying!