General

I had a great year with this challenge. Thanks to Julie of SmilingShelves for hosting. I joined at the lowest level: L’Engle: 15 – 29 points, and each book you read is worth points.

• 3 points for a Newbery Medal Winner
• 2 points for a Newbery Honor Book
• 1 point for a Caldecott Book (Both Medal winners and Honor books are worth a point.)

I’ve done this challenge other years and made this same level, but this year I went up two levels and achieved the Avi: 45 – 59 points by reading a total of 47 points!

2-Wolf Hollow, Lauren Wolk
2-Three Times Lucky (Mo & Dale Mysteries #1), Sheila Turnage
3-The Crossover, Kwame Alexander
2-The Family Under the Bridge, Natalie Savage Carlson
2-Getting Near to Baby, Audrey Couloumbis
2-One Came Home, Amy Timberlake
2-Long Way Down, Jason Reynolds
3-M.C. Higgins, the Great, Virginia Hamilton
2-The Winter Room, Gary Paulsen
2-Breaking Stalin’s Nose, Eugene Yelchin
3-Ginger Pye, Eleanor Estes
2-The Planet of Junior Brown, Virginia Hamilton
2-Doll Bones, Holly Black
2-Dogsong, Gary Paulsen
3-Hello, Universe, Erin Entrada Kelly
2-Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, Steve Sheinkin
2-Roller Girl, Victoria Jamieson
2-Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Beverly Cleary
2-Homesick: My Own Story, Jean Fritz
2-Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa, Francis Kalnay
3-I, Juan de Pareja, Elizabeth Barton de Trevino

I’ve done this challenge in the past, but taken off a few years, so have decided to return to the fun. Read 1 book that fits the motif for that month. Simple, right? The chart above lists the motifs. I’ll pick as I go along.

Both patterns are by Bag Lady Creations, the Collegiate Strip Quilt and the kit is from the Fabric Mill in Orem. The BYU quilt on the left was actually finished last December. I made a strip and a patchwork version and let Mark choose which one he wanted for Christmas in 2017. He chose the patchwork, so the strip quilt went in my stash for future gift giving. During the year I decided to make two more and give them for gifts to my siblings for Christmas 2018. You’ll notice that one is not like the other, as one of my brothers has become a die-hard Utah fan.

I used BYU Minky on the backs of the BYU quilts, and Utah Minky on that quilt. It is very soft and cuddly but makes a mess of lint when cutting and sewing. I had the two new ones both quilted at Utah Valley Quilting using their own design of a block BYU with footballs and a block UTAH with footballs. They were very well-received by my family members. My Utah brother said it was the best Christmas gift ever!