As it happened (from my Journal archives)

Note: the customer had requested that I selecting a poster without telling him what I selected, so in my journal I could not mention the subject of the puzzle! After more than a year, I'm posting the image on the web.

April 14, 2006

Friday 7:45 pm - I plan to start some cutting of #666 tomorrow. The puzzle will take about four days to cut and I'm planning to complete it by the end of the next week.

April 16, 2006

Sunday 9:35 am - Spent a couple hours at the shop yesterday doing extensive overdue cleaning. Also prepared for the commencement of cutting #666 but did not actually start cutting. Designed a multi-piece figural. Cutting marathon starts tomorrow.

April 17, 2006

Monday 11:03 am - Finally, I have started the second of five Creative style puzzles for a customer after more than a year after doing the first one. I was at the shop for about five hours today with most of the time spent on initial cutting - that is subdividing the board into manageable chunks. In Creative style this is always a harrowing task when the puzzle is on the large size like this one - as the cutting has to detailed enough to blend in with later cutting when the going is easier. No show stoppers today, cutting is going well.

April 18, 2006

Tuesday 10:02 pm - I was at the shop for several hours today and cut about 50 Creative style pieces. Some really nice work. The cutting is not easy to see in the gray areas, better in the black and the white areas. I'll have pictures of a few pieces soon without giving the puzzle's picture away (unless the customer makes a serious investigation!)

I expect to put in a much longer day of cutting tomorrow.

April 19, 2006

Wednesday 4:48 pm - I decided to spend an hour picking up litter around the Mixed Media grounds and doing other light maintenance work. This and a longer lunch break than normal cut down on cutting time. A considerable portion of the cutting time was spend subdividing larger sections of the puzzle. Still, I cut around 65 more pieces done today, the puzzle is close to 1/4 done. Cutting will continue tomorrow.

April 20, 2006

Thursday 11:50 pm - Spent 7-8 hours at the shop today, maybe 5-6 of those cutting. Cut about 120 Creative style pieces, puzzle now around 45% done, cutting continues to go well. Cutting will continue tomorrow.

April 21, 2006

Friday 4:20 pm - About 5 hours at the shop today, another 70 or so Creative style pieces cut, plus quite a bit of subdividing another section. Now well past the half way mark, maybe 300 out of a projected total 515 or so done. I cut some very cool stuff today, I will have pictures "soon". Tomorrow I have a day-time dance class, and a funeral to attend, so I won't get much if any cutting done. I'm hoping to get the puzzle completed and shipped by April 25 and then the eBay puzzle completed and the auction launched by Friday April 28. The final customer puzzle in the Puzzle Queue will be cut early the following week.

April 22, 2006

Saturday 5:55 pm - Just a little cutting this morning, 35 more pieces. Tomorrow I'll put in a lot more time.

R.I.P. Chuck Kirch, 90.

April 23, 2006

Sunday 3:55 pm - Although I cut just 30 pieces or so today, I made substantial progress as the final remaining large section of the puzzle is now subdivided into working sections. Cutting continues to go well. I expect to finish the puzzle this Tuesday, with shipment now on Wednesday the 26th. I continue to expect to have the next puzzle completed and on eBay by late Friday afternoon.

April 24, 2006

Monday 4:05 pm - The Escher puzzle is almost done. Did about 120 pieces today; tomorrow I'll cut the remaining 35-40 pieces. Cutting continues to go well. The puzzle will probably ship Wednesday morning as I have a lesson with my dance partner tomorrow afternoon. As usually, I'll take a bunch of pictures before I ship the puzzle, and will post some here without giving away the subject to the customer.

April 25, 2006

Tuesday 11:20 am - Puzzle #666, a big Creative cutting style M.C. Escher puzzle is done. The puzzle is excellent and I'll have some pictures by tomorrow at the latest. I plan to ship this puzzle tomorrow.

April 26, 2006

Wednesday 5:24 pm - The cleaning / inspection process for #666 took too long today, the puzzle will ship tomorrow morning; also didn't have my largest puzzle boxes on hand, will pick one up at the shop shortly. I did take a bunch of pictures, will post some here tomorrow. Final piece count came in at 581. I was way off my intended goal of 500, something which frequently happens with my Creative style puzzles.

Puzzle #667 Waves at Imperial Beach is slipping a bit, I still need to mount the print.

April 27, 2006

Thursday 11:25 pm - As the saying goes, the wheels of progress turn slowly, but they do turn. Puzzle #666 shipped.