Several people in my Big Puzzle Collection group on Flickr decided to try a group project and do the same puzzle at the same time.  We selected the 4,000 piece “Wedding Feast at Cana” puzzle by Clementoni.  A beautiful painting that has been made into several different size puzzles by several manufacturers over the years.  It is by Paolo Veronese, and you can read more about the painting by clicking here.

I first saw this painting when Tom over at sexdrugsandjigsawpuzzles told me this was the puzzle that launched his passion for puzzles.  He had a whopping 9,000 piece version that he had lost during a move some where along the line.  He found another copy on ebay and didn’t hesitate to order it, but it unfortunately was used and a lot of pieces were missing . I believe he just recently got another copy that will hopefully be complete!

Not too long ago, the owner of our Flickr group, Billsville Mike, also completed the 9,000 piece version of this beauty, and it was at that point I was completely hooked.  I have looked for months for another used 9,000 piece version on ebay, but so far I’ve had no luck in finding it.  Oh well…one of these days maybe.  In the meantime, this one will keep me plenty busy since I have so little puzzling time right now as it is.

This mini group of puzzlers is representing a broad geographic range.  One member is in Australia, another in The Netherlands, a third in Oregon, and me, in Atlanta, GA.  It has been really fun posting progress pictures as we assemble.  Of course, I knew going into this that I would be the slowest to do the puzzle as I have two young children, but I didn’t let that stop me.  I wanted to be a part of the group, and I really love the painting so I was eager to participate.

It’s now been 8 days since we first started the puzzle.  Our super fast puzzler from Australia, Jane, is already finished, and our Europeon participant, Eddie, isn’t far behind.  Bob, from Oregon, is over halfway done, and still a long ways ahead of me, but that’s okay.  I’m having fun with it, even if I won’t win any speed awards.  I do think I should qualify for other awards like “Longest Time to Complete” or “Most Determined Puzzler” since I have never given up on my Life puzzle even though it will be officially 4 years since I purchased it in just a couple of weeks!

Here is the border – it’s laying in strips as my main puzzling table still has Life on it so I’m having to try and build this puzzle on these small working boards.  I will cover up the Life puzzle with some foam boards when I’m ready for final assembly.

A sea of body parts bucket…