2000 Piece "Enchanted Valley" Puzzle

Frank I completed a 2000 piece puzzle a few days ago. We started on July 8 and finished on July 21; but we were not working on it constantly and sometimes we did not touch it at all for a few days. The picture is titled Enchanted Valley and the artist is Joseph Burgess ©2018. Frank and I were so drawn in by the lovely painting with a fairy tale aura about it that we were willing to attempt the 2000 piece size. It was pricey – I think we paid $34.99 (list price) at a downtown shop – but, since it was manufactured by Ravensburger, we knew the quality would be good. The Ravensburger website description, cited below the photo, promised it would be worth it. I have since learned that Amazon's lowest price is $79.99 with other prices ranging up to $119.99. Yes. For a jigsaw puzzle. 

Assemble the pieces to reveal an idyllic countryside scene complete with colorful cottages, rolling hills, white chapel, and meandering stream. Ravensburger 2000 piece puzzles are create a challenging and satisfying experience from our strategic image selection to our unmatchable quality.

Puzzling is more than just fun! Puzzling develops logical thinking and problem-solving skills, memory, focus, and concentration, and builds confidence. Plus, it’s a great way to unplug, relax, and destress.

Ravensburger puzzles are designed to be a positive, frustration-free experience. Our steel-cut pieces offer a perfect, interlocking fit with no tearing or dust – and no two pieces are ever the same shape! Extra-thick cardboard pieces mean your puzzle will last for years.

July 8, 2020

After lingering several months untouched among our other puzzles, Frank and I opened the box with all the typical initial enthusiasm of starting a fresh, new project, i.e., the honeymoon phase. The colors in the picture were varied and there were many textures to explore. How hard could it be? We took up our traditional puzzle roles. I challenged myself on sky and edge and Frank attacked the buildings with gusto. The uniquely colored sky and three distinct buildings gave us a jump start.

Beyond the initial stages, when our progress became extremely slow, Frank considered surrendering and even checked how much he could sell the puzzle for on eBay. He learned $60 - $100; so, if we quit, we could possibly turn a profit. While he was exploring eBay I just kept plugging away a bit each evening and then he came around and joined me. Sorting pieces onto plates and bringing in an extra table helped. The completed puzzle would measure 29½" by 38½". The butcher block table in the foreground is 3' by 4', large enough for the puzzle but leaving hardly any room for piece sorting or small subsection assemblies. The supplemental Costco table behind it measures 2½' by 4' and provided the extra space needed for a work in progress.

July 14, 2020

I – as the tortoise – continued plodding on with insertion of a few pieces each evening. Frank – ever the hare – continued his quest to accelerate the assembly process. He found puzzle stackers on Amazon. It was one of the best finds – ever! – better than using those round plates with curved edges. We decided upon and ordered a set of Becko Stackable Puzzle Sorting Trays. The twelve trays stack very well, leaving enough height for the puzzles pieces in the tray below and, with their hexagon shape, they close-pack very efficiently honeycomb fashion on the table surface. The trays come in both a light and a darker color which lends itself well to collecting and seeing the shape clearly of either light or dark pieces. We deployed them immediately and did away with the plastic picnic-style plates.

 

We continued to forge ahead. Frank claims my color skills from quilting made me more adept at sorting similar pieces into separate trays based on their gradation in color. I could tell which pinks and which blues went where, for example. Our progress included the flowers over the bridge, the reddish bushes, the range of blue hues of the flowers, the difference between the upstream and downstream waters, and the subtle grey variation in the two cobblestone pathways. Texture distinguished the blue house from the similar hued blue heron in the foreground.

July 17, 2020
Ok, by now we are basically left with green: light green, yellow green, teal green, deep green, black green, white speckled, leaf textured, grass textured, blurred texture, and a few straggling nondescript green categories. Attention to detail became a strong requirement for fine tuning the potential candidates for piece placement.

You have to look very closely but there is progress in the preceding July 17 photo since the previous July 14 photo. Finding the differences is like those picture games in Highlights magazine I enjoyed as a kid. Studying both pictures closely or, looking quickly back and forth between two images, your eye can sometimes detect the absence or appearance of another object. Can you sleuth out the changes? Alright, I will tell you what the additions are: the tree trunk and tree roots at the far left, the grass between the blue house and the white chapel, the bush and bench near it at the right. Often I would stay up later than Frank, draw by some strange addiction to get in "just a few more pieces" or to finish "just one more bush or lawn area". Frank would be in bed, asleep, and when I came up to join him, I would wake him up to come downstairs to rejoice with me on the "progress". He grumbled but generally obliged me.

July 20, 2020

Here is the puzzle on July 20 following by a comparison with July 17 status.

See? We filled in the grassy area to the left of the stream and the bushes to the left of the pink covered stone bridge. A lot of this was due to Frank's effort to sort pieces into trays by shape rather than color. I contributed my plastic numbered tags from my quilt piecing notions to distinguish the trays so we could communicate to each other which tray to pass.

July 21, 2020
We waiting until each other was available so together we could savor the climactic moments of putting in the final few pieces.

Ta-Da! We were 100% successful in keeping each and every piece intact, not losing lose even one piece out of 2000! Maybe the puzzle really was "enchanted". We felt a great sense of accomplishment, are still talking to each other, and from the smiles in our selfie, seem somewhat pleased with ourselves and each other.

Since it took around two weeks to assemble this puzzle, I think it needs to stay on display at least two weeks before we disassemble it. We have another 2000 piece puzzle waiting in the wings but we both agree to take a break and do a few less ambitious jigsaws before tackling another biggie. We can generally assemble a 300-550 piece puzzle in one evening and that increased frequency of atta-boys is pretty rewarding.