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2024 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge

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I’ve done this challenge off & on over the years & decided 2024 is the year to do it again & maybe get some neglected books off my shelves.

JAN- “Red Carpet Reads” Read a book that has won an award or been nominated for one.
FEB- “Dynamic Duos” Read a book with a couple of characters that make the perfect pair- whether in business, friendship, or in love.
MAR- “Thrill Me” Read a thriller- Psychological thriller; Action thriller; Crime thriller; etc.
APR- “Who’s In Charge Here?” Read a book where the character’s involvement in Royalty, Government, a Kingdom, or any ruling body plays a role.
MAY- “Face Off” Read a book with a face on the cover. Bonus points if you take a #bookface photo!
JUN- “Comedy Club” Read a book that’s guaranteed to make you laugh.
JUL- “Creature Feature” Read a book with an animal in the story- real or mythical.
AUG- “Seasons, Elements, Weather” Read a book where the season, weather, climate, or elements play a roll in the plot.
SEP- “Story of Survival” Read a book where the character stays strong and survives something.
OCT- “Wicked Good Reads” An ode to Girlxoxo’s annual WGR event. Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Creeptastic or Magical books.
NOV- “An Oldie But A Goodie” Read a Historical Fiction book or a book published before 2000.
DEC- “Cover Love” Read a book with a cover you love!

2023 Reading Challenge wrap-up

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I signed up for Mt. Ararat, which is 48 books on my To Be Read shelves, & managed to squeak in at the last minute for the win! Here’s my list of books read & mostly released for others to read:

West with the Night by Beryl Markham

Buried in the Stacks (The Haunted Library Mysteries, #3) by Allison Brook

The Sentence Is Death (Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery, #2) by Anthony Horowitz 

Seven Dials (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #23) by Anne Perry

The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander

Picture Bride by Yoshiko Uchida

The Ninth Daughter (Abigail Adams #1) by Barbara Hamilton

The Last Debutantes by Georgie Blalock

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger

Long Spoon Lane (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #24) by Anne Perry

A Spirited Gift (A Missing Pieces Mystery, #3) by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene

Buckingham Palace Gardens (Charlotte & Thomas Pitt, #25) by Anne Perry

12-Pike’s Peak

A Line To Kill (Hawthorne and Horowitz Mystery, #3) by Anthony Horowitz 

Murder at the Mansion (Victorian Village Mystery #1) by Sheila Connolly

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon by Alan Shephard & Deke Slayton

A Haunting Dream (A Missing Pieces Mystery, #4) by Jim Lavene, Joyce Lavene

A Finder’s Fee (A Missing Pieces Mystery, #5) by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene

The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding by Lydia Kang

Blood Orange (China Bayles, #24) by Susan Wittig Albert

The Last Chance Olive Ranch (China Bayles #25) by Susan Wittig Albert 

Queen Anne’s Lace (China Bayles #26) by Susan Wittig Albert 

The First Time I Said Goodbye by Claire Allan

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

24-Mount Blanc

Killer in the Carriage House (Victorian Village Mysteries Book 2) by Sheila Connolly

Moonflower Murders (Susan Ryeland, #2) by Anthony Horowitz

NoBODY (Crystal Cave, #1) by Susan Wittig Albert

Fallen Women by Sandra Dallas

Death at Bishop’s Keep (Kathryn Ardleigh, #1) by Robin Paige

SomeBODY Else (Crystal Cave, #2) by Susan Wittig Albert

Our Last Days in Barcelona (The Perez Family, #5) by Chanel Cleeton

Out of BODY (Crystal Cave, #3) by Susan Wittig Albert 

The Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas

In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen

Death at Gallows Green (Kathryn Ardleigh, #2) by Robin Paige

Cast Two Shadows by Ann Rinaldi

36-Mt. Vancouver

Murder Most Fowl (Meg Langslow Mysteries, 29) by Donna Andrews 

Light to the Hills by Bonnie Blaylock

Pekoe Most Poison (Tea Shop Mystery, #18) by Laura Childs

Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark

It’s Like This, Cat by Emily Cheney Neville

The White Stag by Kate Seredy

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

The Gift of the Magpie (Meg Langslow #28) by Donna Andrews

The Twelve Jays of Christmas (Meg Langslow #30) by Donna Andrews

Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express by Kristiana Gregory

Journey to Topaz: A Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation by Yoshiko Uchida

Peril in Paris (Her Royal Spyness Mystery, #16) by Rhys Bowen

48-Mt. Ararat

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The Mystillery hosts 3 challenges. The Medical Examiner Mystery got me 98 books for a total of 340 toe tags. I racked up 13 notches in The Six Shooter Mystery, which has the goal to shoot (read) six mysteries by the same target (author). The Mystillery also hosts 2 seasonal games that add some fun to the year, & I completed the 2022-23 Ten Pins bowling game, plus the 2023 AbraCadavers baseball game.

I finished the What’s in a Name? challenge that I’ve done for several years by reading these:

Punctuation– Deserts, Driving, & Derelicts (Camper & Criminals #2) by Tonya Kappes

7 Deadly Sins Kickbacks, Kayaks, and Kidnapping (Camper & Criminals #12) by Tonya Kappes (kickbacks=greed)

You or Me-The First Time I Said Goodbye by Claire Allan

Chess Piece-Queen Anne’s Lace (China Bayles #26) by Susan Wittig Albert 

Celebration-Coronation Year by Jennifer Robson

Q, X, Z-Eggnog, Extortion, and Evergreens (Camper and Criminals #14) by Tonya Kappes 

I also did a goodreads group challenge called Deck of Cards.

RSC2023-green March

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SoScrappy

March has been an interesting month. I had cataract surgery on both eyes, a week apart, at the beginning of the month, so sewing came to a screeching halt for a couple weeks. But then I got going again on my apartment projects. Since my scraps are packed away, I’m trying to get old projects done. This flimsy was completely put together this month. The pattern & jelly roll came in a FQS Sew Sampler Box back when I was subscribed in 2017. I bought the background immediately because I really wanted to make the quilt, but it sat & got overcome by other things. So it was in my stack of things to get done here. I pulled it out for March because the aqua is kinda green, right? It’s a 54-40 pattern using the templates & is called “Palm Canyon” for the fabric line.

These are the last of the Shine blocks by Melissa Corry. I started these as an RSC2022 project & these were the only ones left when I had my accident last August & life stopped. I packed up the others & only brought these unfinished, but cut, parts. So all the blocks are now done & I can get it sewed together when I’m all unpacked & have my studio set up. Which will be in April, as we are closing & moving into our new home in the middle of April! Don’t know how long it will be before I start sewing again there, but May should be a good month!

I was finally able to drive down to quilt group & we continued with our Sewcialites2 project from FQS. This is block #7 Butterfly Garden by Pat Sloan.

And this is block #8 Interwoven by Shereece Nicole. I’m using leftovers from my Songbook quilt & solid leftovers from my Cascade quilt, plus the postal background I purchased for the whole quilt. It’s been interesting trying to work without access to my boxes of scraps in all colors & patterns.

The last couple days I cut out & kitted up these RW&B String Bean blocks from Pat Sloan for a donation quilt I will work on here & there along with my current L&E project of the Selfies quilt.

So there’s my March. April will be hit & miss, but hopefully I’ll get some sewing done in between packing up the apartment.

RSC2023 Feb #2 & last for the month

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SoScrappy

I haven’t managed a blog post since the first week of February because of all the stuff with selling the house & looking for a new one. But I have gotten a little sewing in. I finished the last Elizabeth Hartman North Stars block. They are lots of cutting & sewing! (And these are the true colors of this block-not the funky colors in the photo below)

And I got the top sewed together. Colors poor in the apartment lighting, but it’s going to be a cute little baby quilt at 54″ square. It’s going into the to-be-quilted box for when we’re settled. I’m pretty happy with it, even if there’s a little wonkiness here & there. Finished is better than perfect, as Jenny Doan says.

My February pink project was to make these Riley Blake Strength in Pink blocks. I got the remainder of the blocks done last week as L&E’s.

Then in a marathon sewing day this week, I got the entire top sewed together. Yay! Pink project accomplished for February. One block was replaced by an embroidered block provided by my quilting partner. She had it left over from the quilt she made for our friend who passed away from breast cancer, so she gave it to me to add to this quilt as a further tribute to her. When I get it quilted, it will wait for someone who needs it.

In quilt group we made Sewcialites2 blocks #2 & #3. I’m liking this so far.

And then we made blocks #4 & #5 this week. Still happy & using up those scraps from Songbook, supplemented by a new charm pack of Songbook A New Page.

And here’s the new L&E project. I saw this kit at Fat Quarter Shop & was overcome with a giddy sense of needing it, so it was my Valentine’s present to me. I ordered it & cut it all out as soon as it arrived. (I know, I know. I said I was going to get all my old kits sewed up during the apartment stay. I have no defense, except that I AM finishing old projects! LOL) It’s super cute & perfect for an L&E project as there’s so much repetition. I started it while sewing the pink top together.