Who's a fan of Lizzy House? (raises both hands)

Maritza (our quilting instructor and crafty-genius) and I saw on the twitter-verse that there was some interest in doing a quilt-along for Lizzy's awesome pattern, The Colorist. And somewhere between too many Friday night cocktails and tweets we volunteered to put together the official group! Which is a pretty cool thing to find out you've done on Saturday morning when you check your twitter feed. <PREVIEWEND>

The flickr group is officially up and already has 40 members! But we know there are more of you peeps out there. Don't be afraid of curves! Don't be afraid of color! Bottom line - don't be afraid!

You have plenty of time to join us because I'm just now blogging about this brilliant idea. Here's the official timeline that Maritza and I worked out. We spread it out over a couple of months because we know you're busy. We know we're busy but if you get bit by the piecing or quilting bug, don't let this timeline stop you from getting it done! Just go easy on the rest of us when we post pics at midnight...

February 14th (it isn't a coincidence that we chose Valentine's Day - WE <3 Lizzy House!): Choose and post pics of your "color wheel" fabrics. (You'll need at least 30 fabrics for the color ring and 4 1/2 yards of background fabric.)

February 21st: Sew your background and cut out the circle pieces.

February 29th: Cut out all your pieces.

March 14th: Piece all the "warm" pieces. Don't just stitch the wedges but stitch them together as well. (Warm = yellow, peach, orange, red, pink)

March 28th: Piece all the "cool" pieces. Don't just stitch the wedges but stitch them together as well. (Cool = green, teal, blue, indigo, purple)

April 9th: Stitch the color ring to the inner circle.

April 16th: Stitch the color ring to the outer circle.

May 7th: Quilt and bind (obviously).

You can post pics prior to the dates listed (of course) and if you don't post by the date we've penciled in, that's totally fine, too. We figured having some deadlines might inspire us (the big huge community of The Colorist admirers) to get crackin'. And because I volunteered to organize this, it means I can't just look at the pretty stack of fabric I've chosen. I must "make something"!

Maritza and I will both be writing blog posts about the process. Lizzy's pattern instructions are super user-friendly but since some folks are a bit afraid, we thought it might be helpful to see pictures of us doing it all. We hope it not only inspires you to get down to Colorist business but also helps you get through any tricky parts.

We certainly hope you'll join us! Pick up the pattern from Lizzy's shop here or ask your LQS if they have it in stock (we still have a couple copies). And send any questions to us via our blogs or twitter (sotosofties or gather_here).

From the pattern:

Only those who love color are admitted to its beauty and immanent presence. It affords utility to all, but unveils its deeper mysteries only to its devotees. - Johannes Itten