Every Christmas when I was a kid I would get a new jigsaw puzzle. On Boxing Day, we would be packed into the car (literally in my case – I was the youngest and hence could have the most stuff piled around me) and would get the barge to Straddie. We stayed in the same place each year: a wonderful rambling house with sea grass matting on the floors, mismatching crockery, and the smell of salt, and copious quantities of sunscreen. I loved it. There were many rituals involved in these holidays: multiple swims a day, beach walks, kites, Arnotts family assorted biscuits, cheese jaffles, Christmas cake (which the ants generally discovered), getting stung by a blue bottle, and doing the jigsaw puzzle. My Dad and I would take over the table in the living room and spend a large chunk of the hot days completing the puzzle.
I've been playing around with puzzles again, but in a bit of a different form. Here are some coasters which together form a trivet. Not as complex perhaps as the ones that occupied my summer holidays, but maybe they can be a fun part of everyday life. The pieces are made from 100% wool felt and the whole trivet measures about 210 mm x 210 mm and is available from my online stores (listed on the right).
Here is another example of what I’ve been doing with puzzles. Sorry for the lack of ironing before I took the photos! These puzzle pieces were hand screen printed onto 100% cotton napkins.
