Witch Hazel's Cottage- A Halloween House Freebie

Do come in, my Pretties and join me for a spell! Cackle! Cackle! 

Witch Hazel McPunkin has a brew of "something" boiling up in her large black  cauldron. I am sure she is willing to share a bit of the ghoulish gruel if we so dare. 

Welcome, Sweet Peas and Happy Happy Thursday. It seems like it has been a spell since our last visit.  Doesn't it? 

All is well in the holler. I have been busy with my own broom and duster giving the house a good "fall cleaning" . 

Meanwhile, Witch Hazel has been doing the same thing- Sweeping away.  Whisp! Whisp! Whisp! 

Witch Hazel's Cottage is stitched on  coffee/ tea dyed 14 count Aida. 

Witch Hazel McPunkin's Cottage is the newest addition to my "house collection" . A grand purple cottage- just perfect for a good witch. 

Witch Hazel has a full house with ghosts and all of her pets like an owl , bats and of course Minerva , her beloved, prowling black cat. 

Sixteen DMC floss colors were used in the making of Witch Hazel's Cottage including: DMC Blanc, 301 , 436, 610, 645, 730, 780, 832, 838, 922, 975, 3021, 3041, 3052, 3371, and 3835. 

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If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

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My favorite witch of all times is Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched.

Do you have a favorite witchy poo?

Graphic from Pinterest

Witch Hazel insisted that I share my slow stitch progress on Autumn Acorn.  The embroidery work is  completed  . I shared this little doodle earlier this fall .

 I decided to applique  the acorn and then embroider the details using DMC 898. Soon Autumn Acorn will go into the hoop. 

Well my friends, I best get back to the cleaning detail. There is laundry to be folded  and dust bunnies to shoo away.  I wish I could say "Hocus Pocus" and all would be magically clean and put away. Oh well. 😏 Perhaps by this afternoon, I can spend some time with needle and thread. 

So tell me how has your week been thus far? 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa 

"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for  our wits to grow sharper.  "- Eden Phillpots

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy  who made the Halloween season magical. 

 I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

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Friday Happenings

It's Friday! It's Friday Yeee Haw! It's Friday!

 Good morning, Sweet friends . How are you on this lovely fall day? 

I have had a long week of cleaning and organizing in the quilt room. Slowly but surely, I am making progress, but I will spare you the photos of the room bulging of stacks of fabrics and UFO's galore. 

QUILT ALONG ALERT! QUILT ALONG ALERT!

Kathleen Tracy of Sentimental Stitcher is hosting a Scraps Stars QAL. She posted the introduction information and tips on making star points in her October, 2, 2026 post. 

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This week, I have been working on Little House Needlework's Sheep Virtues. A sweet gift from dear Donna.  ( Thank you Donna. I am loving every stitch. 🤗)

Sheep Trifle

Today , I will work on the sheep and the border.  I am stitching the Sheep Virtues as one large piece. There are 5 stitch spaces between each design. 

Time to move onto the sawtooth borders in "Oh My Stars and Pumpkins" , a sweet gift from Cheryle.💗 Thank you , Cheryle ; this is bringing me so much joy. 

 

A wavy line was handstitched in the tan border using an off white thread. 

Soon it will be time to turn down the black binding and whip it into place. 

Oooh Let me show you a couple of my thrifty finds from a couple of weeks ago. 

While in Texas, I picked up a vintage pottery pitcher from the 1990's and the darling crocheted pumpkin. 

The pitcher was made by Ellis Pottery from Marshall , Texas. The family began their business in the late 1800's.

Ok Sweeties, that is my update this week - cleaning, stitching and quilting. Now I best put on my apron and head back to that quilt room. There is more cleaning to be done. 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa 

"I can't get finished cleaning up my room because I get distracted by all of the cool stuff I find.  "- unknown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy 

 I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

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Just Stitching and Quilting

In 2 shakes of a lamb's "cat's" tail ,   Prim Cat and Pumpkins Pinkeep   was all stitched up, and it didn't take long to fully finish it into a simple little pillow either ! 

Sometimes it feels good to work on something super simple. Doesn't it? 

Prim Cat and Pumpkins Pinkeep was stitched on 14 count coffee/ tea dyed Aida. 

 Yee Haw! A new house is in the works.

Oh bummer, I am sorry to inform you that the house under construction already has an infestation problem. 🐿 Hee! Hee!  Should I shoo the squirrels away?! Hmmm... I don't think so. I will see what mischief they get into first.

The Squirrel House is nearing completion. 

On the Halloween Stitching Front...

Witch Hazel has cast a spell on  me and has me  going out of my comfort zone. She was adamant that her house must be purple, and there was no convincing her otherwise. 💜

What's a girl to do? But to STITCH! STITCH! STITCH! on a  plum purple house as ghostly spirits watch  my every move. 👻👻👻

ON THE QUILTING FRONT... Well...

Four more blocks were pieced on Melva's Irish Chain Stitch along. 

I thought I was on a roll and ready to sew my blocks into rows when..... SCREECH!  STOP! 

I laid my blocks out and realized I did not have enough. Oh Fiddlesticks! I had miscounted. I need 8 more chain blocks and 7 more yellow blocks. So I will be working the "Chain Gang"! 

As I was stacking my blocks I paused when I saw one block had a mistake. EEEEK! Do you see it ? I placed a green square in the corner when there should have been a red one. Thankfully, that will be a super quick fix. Sooo.... Mrs. Jackie Ripper will be coming out today.  And I may rework some of the other blocks with the dark blues. Sigh. 😏😊

Oopsie - daisy! I made a mistake. I need to do some ripping! 

So these are  my projects for the week. 
Have you made your plans for the week?  I  would love to hear what you are working on. 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa 

"A busy day is a good day.  "-

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy 

 I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

A fall Sunday quilt stack on my favorite sunny child's chair. 

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The little crocheted pumpkin was a thrifty find from Texas and the green glassware was picked up in Arkansas on my recent trip. 

I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needle workers to meet. 

Frederique at   Quilting Patchwork Applique for Patchwork & Quilts - Saturday

Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday

Kate at Life in Pieces for  Stitching Stuff ( Sunday) 

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap - Sunday 

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew & Tell- Sunday

Brenda at Songbird Designs for Monday Musings

Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday

Carol at Quilt Schmilt  for To Do List Tuesday 

Raining Cats and Jacks! And a Prim Halloween Freebie

It's raining cats and "jacks"  in the holler! 🌧🐱🎃

Happy Happy Saturday, sweet friends.  We finally are getting a spot of rain after a long dry spell. 

But before I get into my post , let me thank everyone for the sweetest compliments and visits on my last couple of posts. Blogger is giving me the blues and is not allowing me to reply back. Aaargh! 😜Maybe it will be better behaved tonight. Fingers crossed!

But back today's happenings. What to do on a rainy day? Well stitch and quilt ! Hee! Hee!

  Last night , cats and jacks jumped out of my attic as the rain began to fall. That is my Halloween decorations. 

Soon they were making their way onto the hutch. The theme of the hutch all started with Walmart's newest cat cookie jar. Swoon! Meow! Thumpity Thump!  I love it! 🤗😺🧡🎔

The cat cookie jar is my newest Halloween piece from Walmart. They have the dog cookie jar too. 

By night's end, most of the goodies were on the hutch . Today I will continue to wrangle those Halloween pieces and change out the quilts.

But I do want to work on a little Prim Cat and Pumpkins Pinkeep . 

UPDATE: OCTOBER 3, 2026- It did not take long to stitch up Prim Cat and Pumpkins Pinkeep , and I fully finished it - all in a few short hours. I added a gourd pin with a scrap of fabric and some buttons to one corner. Prim Cat and Pumpkins is stitched on 14 count coffee/ tea dyed Aida. 

Prim Cat and Pumpkins Pinkeep was stitched on 14 count coffee/ tea dyed Aida. 

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If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

Have you started decorating for Halloween yet? 

Oooh While I am thinking about it , let me skip down memory lane for a moment and share some snippets and links to past Halloween hutch tours. 

Ghostly Hutch Tour 2025- My hutch was filled with lots of ghosts.

 

Boo Hoo, 😢 there was no Halloween Hutch Tour in 2024. Mr. Pinker and I were camping in Texas.

BUT  What about 2023? Hmmmm

Aaah yes, I shared my Witch Apothecary Halloween Hutch  for 2023. 

2023 Halloween Hutch - Witch Apothecary 

2022 was dedicated to all things Jack- o- lanterns in my  Jacks, Jacks and More Jacks  October hutch theme. There were 45 Jacks on this hutch. Wheww! That's a lot! 

A Modge Podge of Halloween was the theme of my 2020 Halloween hutch. 

So how are you spending your day today? Is it starting to feel like Fall in your neck of the woods?

Well Punkins, I am off to see what I can get into. I hope you find a little joyful mischief to brighten your day too. 

Thank you for the sweet Saturday visit! Love ya'! 😽🧡

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa 

"I'm  so glad  I live in a world where there are Octobers.  "- L. M. Montgomery

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy 

 I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

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🌞 Root A Toot Toot Patriotic Parade Early 2024 patriotic freebies. 

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🌞Turkey Struttin' Thanksgiving Parade 2025- Thanksgiving freebies up to the date of November 3, 2025. More Thanksgiving freebies followed  this date. 

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🌞A Chilly Parade of Winter Stitches 2025- A parade of Winter themed freebies up to the date of Dec. 21, 2025

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🌞Color Tinting Embroidery Designs - Explanation on how I use crayons to color my designs for hand embroidery. - July 9, 2026

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Yesterday, I shared my Pumpkins, Pumpkins and More Pumpkins Hutch Tour. If you would like to see all of that country clutter, just click on the link.