Zipper Quilt: my first completed charity quilt!

 I have been a complete slacker and haven't kept up with my blogging.  So, here's a record of my first-ever charity quilt, all in one place.

Some great fabrics I scored on sale from Connecting Threads (January 23):

Apparently there was some crooked printing on one edge of the fabric (hence the sale price), though I mostly couldn't see it.  Just in case a more discerning eye than mine could actually see this defect, I decided to use a pattern with some small pieces, which would completely hide any crooked motifs.  Some pieces cut and ready to use January 24:

 Some assembled blocks January 29:

February 13: More blocks with the pattern, Zipper Quilt, from "The Modern Quilt Workshop" by Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle.  I'm really enjoying the book, by the way! 

 April 3: putting together the puzzle pieces!  Up till this point, I'd just been choosing neighboring colors by random, but once I had most of them together I needed to plan the rest.

 Here's the assembled quilt top April 10:

 I decided it was just a little narrow and was busy enough it could benefit from a border.  I added a 2" white border, and a solid brown that is 2" at the top and bottom and 4" on the sides. 

 Here's a corner of the quilt sandwich (the white on the outside is batting).  I decided to use a wonderfully soft brown flannel for the back. 

 June 7: finally done with the quilting!  I went with a straight-line design. 

 Here's a close-up of the quilting, which you can see even better on the solid brown quilt back:

  

And a completed quilt!  June 9:

 

I finished just in time for the charity event.  The Wisconsin Dual Sport Riders have very generously been doing a Ride for Research every summer to support cancer research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Our lab has benefited in so many ways; not only has their funding really helped us out, but all the WIDSR folks are amazing people, and their friendship has been invaluable.  Plus, the boss lets us out of the lab to go to the ride and say thank you! 

June 11: This was our (very small) part of their incredible event.

This photo is just awesome and self-explanatory.  I'll never be this cool. 

 

 

I was totally bowled over when they decided to auction off the quilt; I donated it as a raffle prize!  It was completely amazing to donate a quilt and have it raise $250 for cancer research.  A million thanks to Barb, the hospice nurse who was so generous with her bidding. 

All in all, an incredible experience.  It felt so good to enjoy my love of playing with fabric, then donate the resulting quilt to the folks who use their passion for "building community goodwill through motorcycling" to support the research I care so much about. 

Thanks, guys!
~Phosphorelated