Oh my, all I've wanted for weeks is for the sun to come out and warm the place up. It finally does just that, to the tune of 100 degrees and wilting flowers, and now all I can think about is fall...
Orange leaves, bittersweet, masses of bumpy gourds on wooden carts at the pumpkin patch, and pumpkin spice lattes... opened windows for sleeping, fire pits and s'mores, new autumn designs, and new linen to stitch on.
Fall is perfect.
And when R&R Reproductions told me about a beautiful new linen color in their lineup, I got a really fun idea: I wanted to come up with a new autumn-themed design to go with the linen! And I wanted to have a pre-autumn celebration giveaway!
This is the little design I came up with to go with this brand-new linen from R&R Reproductions:
Stars Hollow Blend
Isn't that fabulous? Love love love the name!
And here's another fun new item: Just Another Button Company has come up with the most wonderful little coffee bean pins!
Now here is the giveaway part: One winner will receive a piece of 36 ct. Stars Hollow Blend linen to stitch Brew-Haha!, along with the overdyed threads (listed in the post-script) to go with it, and some coffee bean pins!
All you have to do is answer this question:
What does your perfect fall day look like?
The winner will be chosen from the comments left here or on my Plum Street Samplers Facebook page, and will be announced next week - some time after I return from Chicago. Probably next Tuesday. :)
And surprise! The Brew-Haha! chart is yours for the downloading! You'll find the link at the bottom of this post. :)
Good luck, and I hope you all have fun with this little giveaway - even if you're in the middle of a heat wave!
P.S. The Brew-Haha! chart calls for DMC, but Dyeing to Stitch in Virginia Beach has come up with a fun conversion to overdyed threads in these colors: Classic Colorworks' Timber (3021), Eggshell (Ecru), Pumpkin Harvest (3776), Brandied Pears (434), Straw Hat (3863), and The Gentle Art's Gingersnap (400), Endive (3011), Grecian Gold (680), and Nutmeg (3826).
P.P.S. This is the bottom of the post. Download Brew-Haha! :)
ETA 7/15: The original color conversion called for Classic Colorworks' Gingersnap, but the correct color is The Gentle Art's Gingersnap.
Thank you for the wonderful and FUN chart! I just love your designs.
Perfect fall day: The weather outside is chilly and all the leaves have turned. Having hazelnut coffee smelling my Apple Hill cake (recipe from Apple Hill, Placerville CA ) baking in the oven ( I only make it in the Fall/Holidays) and cross stitching a Plum Street design waiting for the cake to be done. Then watch Hallmark Fall movies all day while cross-stitching.
Perfect Fall day!!!
love Annette
Posted by: Annette - California Stitcher | July 15, 2015 at 03:17 PM
The perfect fall day would be a trip to the apple orchard to pick apples and sample apple cider. Thanks for the very cool chart!
Posted by: Alice F. | July 15, 2015 at 04:03 PM
My perfect Autumn day would be cool weather and trees in beautiful array of colors.
Hugs,
Posted by: Ellen | July 15, 2015 at 05:31 PM
Ahh...my perfect day is waking up with the warm autumn sun shining stepping out on the patio to have my morning coffee smelling the fall setting into the air. My burning bush off the patio displaying it's bright red leaves with white and orange pumpkins surrounding it with beautiful yellow mums. Then going inside to put a my jeans, boots and sweater for the days activities. Hoping to return in the late afternoon to do some stitching in the bright sun before the sunsets drinking spice tea. And to end my perfect day... my husband and I sitting around our fire pit feeling warm and toasty agains the autumn chill.
Posted by: Renee Frankish | July 15, 2015 at 06:14 PM
Oh, my perfect day would Include a roaring fire, apple cider, and my favorite book.
Posted by: Cari | July 15, 2015 at 06:15 PM
Since Fall usually doesn't arrive here in the desert until the first of November, we all look forward to cooler days and crisp nights!
Marilyn Brown
Posted by: Marilyn Brown | July 15, 2015 at 06:20 PM
My perfect fall day is warm with a cool evening. I love to make apple crisp and pumpkin bread and have some with a cup of tea or even hot cider. I love the smells and the colors of fall.
Posted by: Audrey | July 15, 2015 at 06:58 PM
Such a cute design! Love the pumpkin arms and legs!! My perfect Fall day is when the air is cool and crisp!!! The leaves are all sorts of colors and you can have a hot dog roast with s'mores for dessert!
Posted by: Laurie Brown | July 15, 2015 at 07:00 PM
My perfect fall day starts with a cup of coffee in the morning outside on our deck. It continues with a trip to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins, apples, go on a hayride, and have lots of fun. It ends with a bonfire & wienie roast in our backyard. Good times with friends and family.
Posted by: Kim Mattox | July 15, 2015 at 07:56 PM
My idea of a perfect fall day is a walk through the forest, with the leaves emblazoned with summer's colors waving goodbye, while the soft dripping of rain hits the leaves and the soft earth. Breathing deeply of the crisp air redolent of mossy earth, while catching a glimpse of birds spreading their wings against a deep blue sky. Nearby a stream babbles happily, while my beloved husband tells me he loves me.
Afterwards, coming home and being enveloped in the warm embrace of the house smelling of savory beef stew and a freshly baked loaf of bread, which co-mingles with the spicy, sweet scent of an apple pie cooling on the counter.
After changing into a soft, pillowy bear hug of a sweater and thick, cushy slippers, raising a glass of deep, cherry Burgundy wine with my Beloved and thinking that it really truly is the little things that make life special.
Posted by: Cindy | July 15, 2015 at 08:44 PM
My perfect autumn day was sunny, but cool enough that you are comfortable in jeans and a sweater. The trees are dressed in colorful autumn leaves. I am visiting the Parke County Indiana Covered Bridge Festival with my sister, my niece, and thousands of strangers in a holiday mood.
Thank you for the cute autumn chart. Looking forward to meeting you this weekend at Tomorrow's Heirlooms' seminar.
Posted by: Pat Kokandy | July 15, 2015 at 09:15 PM
Thank you so much for the darling design, love it!!
My perfect fall day is goofing off in Erickson's Ranch pumpkin patch with my husband, kids, parents and my brother's family. We all go out together every year and pick a big wheel barrow of pumpkins to carve. We make goofy poses with each other and take lots of pictures. At night we all end up at my house putting the finishing touches on props for our Halloween yard haunt. We're all a little Halloween crazy in my family. ;-) We usually end up eating pizza as we dress skeletons and scarecrows way into the night.
Posted by: Jeannine520 | July 16, 2015 at 12:49 AM
The perfect Fall day.
A trip to the park where they have hayrides and carriage rides through the park.
The smell of the leaves.
And of course, who doesn't love Pumpkins.
My favorite are the white Pumpkins.
Pumpkins and Gourds and squash on display for sale.
Beautiful Fall flowers also.
Just the smell of Autumn!
Marilyn
Posted by: Marilyn | July 16, 2015 at 03:47 AM
My perfect autumn day is spent stitching and preparing for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The house seems to come alive when we start to get ready for the holidays. I love to decorate the house for Halloween and Christmas. I guess on my perfect day, I would spend it finishing up stitched gifts and projects for my home. I stitch all year and finish all of my Chritmas ornaments in the fall just before I put up my Christmas trees... I usually do 3 trees...one with glass ornaments, one with special things for the kids, and one that has all hand-made ornaments.... Many of them are stitched.
Posted by: AlexB | July 16, 2015 at 07:28 AM
A fall day represents what the bountiful best that our year has had to offer; the promise of a land soon to earn its required rest; a time of equanimity; a time to epitomize our deeds and a continuation of the road we choose to see.
Posted by: carol martin | July 16, 2015 at 07:31 AM
Autumn...I get to wear my favorite sweater and head outside. There is a chill in the air and that earthy smell of ripe apples, downed leaves and wood. Today is the day for a simmering pot of soup hmmm, maybe chili and a loaf of warm baked bread. Today I get to pick the pumpkins in my garden. It's time to change my outside decorations. I line the path with pumpkins, my rusty tin jack-o-lanterns and ghosts. I have the pots of mums ready from the farmers market the day before. Crisp leaves crunch under my footsteps as I clip a few pine branches and gather pinecones to fill an old weathered basket. If I only had some bittersweet branches.... It's time for a cuppa as I warm up next to the fireplace. My dog has found his favorite napping spot. I guess his old bones need to warm up too. I pull out my stitching. It's the perfect day to work on something fun, something fall. I've got it. The perfect pattern...Brew Haha.......
Posted by: Jacqueline Hasenzahl | July 16, 2015 at 09:26 AM
Thank you for the Brew HaHa chart -- he's such a cutie! My favorite fall day is going to an outside fair - a gentle breeze and leaves falling from the trees - looking at all the wonderful goods and finding special Christmas gifts.
Posted by: Barbara Ray | July 16, 2015 at 10:05 AM
My favorite fall day would be the leaves changing slightly (not much of a change in south TX), a nice breeze blowing, me sitting on covered patio stitching on a Plum Street Sampler and sipping a cuppa and watching the squirrels forage for pecans from my tree and the birds singing their favorite song.
Posted by: Jan King | July 16, 2015 at 10:22 AM
Thank you for the wonderful gift Paulette! I love it!
Fall is my favorite season. My perfect day involves sleeping in, having brunch (with good, hot coffee, of course), then a long, leisurely walk with my dogs down by the water. Having some leaves to crunch underfoot is especially satisfying. :)
Posted by: Kristen from MA | July 16, 2015 at 04:04 PM
Fall to me means college football and my favorite is when the weather is cool and crisp, tailgating with good friends as the sun begins to sink. Of course...this is after my Clemson Tigers have won!
Thanks for the new design.... Love it.
Posted by: karen | July 16, 2015 at 06:56 PM
Warm apple cider, cinnamonny candle burning, pumpkin bars, the smell of woodsmoke. Cool enough to pull out the sweatshirt, beautiful mums on the front porch, bluegrass playing, and me siiting on screened back porch cross-stitching. Now that's a perfect Fall day in Indiana!!!
Posted by: Lyneen Burrow | July 16, 2015 at 08:56 PM
OMGoodness, thank you SO much for the free chart! I absolutely LOVE it! Since I live in the Northeast I get to experience many perfect autumn days. What I really love now is on my drive home along the reservoirs in the afternoon sun with a soft breeze blowing the autumn leaves slowly swirling down to the road in front of me...driving through that canopy of trees is really beautiful! Thanks for the generous giveaway! Best of luck to all :)
Smiles, DianeM
basketblessed@yahoo.com
Posted by: DianeM | July 16, 2015 at 09:14 PM
Thank you for the new chart! The perfect fall day is cool and crisp with blue skies and puffy clouds and leaves falling all around. A long walk in the woods then is perfect!
Posted by: Averyclaire | July 16, 2015 at 09:39 PM
Funny how life has a way of changing you... For so long I would have said a trip to Gatlinburg TN with my family the smells... The cool crisp air... Clear water flowing through the city... And the gorgeous leaves. After the 2015 year... My arm surgeries... The DH with Cancer... Ian's the drama that has been at the house... I just want time... A pit fire... Family around close... And no drama... I would love to be able to comfortably stitch this fall with a pit fire and a warm cup of coffee... Fall is my favorite time of the year. Oh I just love coffee and love this happy coffee pumpkin guy I am running to kit him up and start him as soon as the arm will allow so he is on my fall tree. Thank you so much
Posted by: tracy cloyd | July 16, 2015 at 10:10 PM
After a long hot summer in Phoenix fall is all about sitting on the patio in my big overstuffed denim chair, boxer dog at my feet and reading or stitching. I would love this piece to stitch during that time for sure. It will be a cute addition to the table outside when we have our annual Thanksgiving time.
Posted by: Charlene in PhxAz | July 17, 2015 at 12:42 AM