Haberdashery Heaven from Ravensburger

I have a very special bag tucked away on a shelf in my house. It belonged to my mother in law. It is a bag full of haberdashery treasures.

I knit a little and have been known to sew occasionally but I am far from expert. I have to be honest and say that there are items in that bag that have left me clueless to the purpose of. Some people may consider it a load of junk but it absolutely fills me with wonder - I marvel at the loveliness of it all. Individually, one cotton reel is not very inspiring... but a whole collection of different sized cotton reels in rainbow hues with a range of manufacturer's branding is something else entirely. It becomes a thing of beauty. I just love it. And buttons. I remember playing with my mum's button box when I was a little girl. They were like exotic jewels to me. 

Anyway, before I get too carried away, I was recently offered a 1000 piece Ravensburger jigsaw puzzle to review. My daughter who is currently doing her second year exams at University is a big fan of jigsaws. I have very fond memories of time spent with her over the years piecing together all sorts of different pictures: the pleasure of finding a particular piece that had been eluding us, the satisfaction of inserting the final piece, the bitter sweet moment when we break it up and return it to its box. We haven't done one for ages so I was very keen to accept the review and my daughter was equally keen to  resurrect the hobby. Imagine my joy when I found out that the puzzle was called 'Haberdashery Heaven'. 

The picture is a glorious jumble of haberdashery items (apparently meticulously arranged and captured by photographer Greg Shepherd).

The pieces are small and at the risk of stating the obvious, there are a lot of them - certainly a challenge. It is marketed as a 'premium puzzle' with 'softclick technology'. Softclick technology sounds very high tech for something as traditional as a jigsaw puzzle but I suppose it is more in keeping with our modern world than 'quality pieces that fit together really nicely'.

For the purpose of this review, I did make a small start on the puzzle if for no other reason than to test that 'softclick technology'. However, I don't think my daughter would ever forgive me if I were to find myself getting carried away and completing it without her (which is something I could very easily do). The pieces are now safely back in the box until the last of her exams is finished and she comes home for the summer. I can't wait!