Pages

Saturday, October 3, 2020

Do you Dare Stitch "Willowisp Manor of Holler Lane? " - A Halloween Freebie

 

The pumpkin cookies are in the oven and  the coffee and iced tea are poured; come on in for a little visit. 
 Well I have to make a confession, I am little late on my Halloween decorating. Usually all the Halloween decor has been put out by the last week of September,  but this is an unusual year for us all. 
So last night I worked on a bit of Halloween decorating on the buffet and the hutch and later today will be the foyer. More on those areas later .


So do you decorate for fall , Halloween or both? I mix mine up a bit .

I really have not stitched a lot of Halloween so far which is a little disappointing to me, but I have worked on this little piece called "Willowisp Manor of Holler Lane".

I learned that in folklore "Will-o' the wisp" is a ghost light seen by travelers at night which can be misleading by appearing as a flickering light or lantern. I thought that was very interesting and how perfect for a dark little house in the holler.
Spiders, bats, a cat, and a ghost surrounds this little manor. Would you dare enter? This is a small measuring 67 W x 70 H. I stitched mine on coffee/tea dyed 14 count aida which means on this size fabric, the design would measure 4 3/4" x 5" .
I decided to stitch one with all of the jack o' lanterns and another with a more fall look with plain pumpkins. I stitched it in reverse and changed the colors of the cross motifs. You could do the same by eliminating the critters, ghost, and Jack o' lantern faces.

I fully finished my stitch into a pillow similar to the way I finished my  Crow Creek Saltbox. Eventually, I want to have several of these houses completed and placed in a dough bowl.


For instructions pdf, click here .

Please add this to the instructions: I used one strand of 310 black to stitch lines for the teeth in the little jack o' lanterns mouth. 
For color chart pdf, click here .

For black and white chart pdf, click here .

 

 I also wanted to give a few stitching suggestions that I learned along the way.  

1. I am not  a "real"  designer and  am doing this for fun.  I have a very limited floss palette. So please change the colors if you want. I love seeing  how stitchers make a piece their own. Choose your favorite, green or oranges or change the color of the house.  Doing a floss toss is always fun. 

2. I recommend stitching the bottom border and then the house. That way if there are any mistakes while stitching the pumpkin vine you can just fudge it or leave some of the motifs out . 

3. I wouldn't be fussy about the little cross motifs. Just put them wherever you like or not at all.

4.  I have two whites that I used. You do not have to use both colors. The 3770 Very Light Tawny was pretty light in my stitch. You could use that for the ghost as well and jacks' teeth or just use white rather than the 3770  or use both flosses like I did,  but I would see what looks best with your fabric. If I stitched it again with similar fabric, I would probably choose one or the other color. 

If you have missed the other Halloween freebies, check them out by clicking on the names of the chart to go to the post. The previous Halloween freebies have been Prim Pumpkin House , Happy Jack , Big Jack Little Jaxs.



Well thank you so much for visiting me today. I think it is time for me to get back to doing a little decorating ,and then hopefully I can stitch awhile. I hear another house calling my name. Have a lovely , blessed day and as always...
Happy stitching, ya"ll,
Melisa

21 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this sweet little design! Printing out right now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yah! Thank you so much, Jodi. I hope you enjoy every stitch of it. Have a blessed day. And Happy stitching, Melisa

      Delete
  2. Melisa!!!
    Love the Halloween decorations...The typewrite in the first pic is to die for....
    Love the little owl and the "too Cute to Spook" block in the second pic!!!
    Can't wait to see more of your Hutch!! I see some really interesting pieces!!! Thanks too for stopping by and always for your encouraging words... Glad you liked the Shout Out I gave you!! You deserve it.....
    Have a great weekend!!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aah thank you so much , Debbie. That type writer was my grandpas and came out of his old store in KY .All the kiddos love to peck on it. I hope to get my hutch photos out soon. Have a lovely week
      Hugs, Melisa

      Delete
  3. Melisa, You are so generous to share all of your patterns. They are all so perfect! I love all of your Halloween decorations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Shelly for you sweet comment and for visiting me. This has been a fun journey these last few months- learning how to chart and now blog and it sure has been a joy to share. I hope you enjoy this little piece as much as I enjoyed stitching it. Have a blessed week. Happy stitching, Melisa

      Delete
  4. Melisa, I enjoyed viewing your Halloween décor. I don't really decorate for Halloween, but do decorate for fall/harvest/Thanksgiving. Thank you for your generosity in offering your designs to us. I would definitely stitch the fall version of Willowisp. Have a super weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aah thank you Robin. I am into the cute, vintage and prim Halloween style. It is the kid in me. Lol. I had fun stitching both of these but he fall one was a lot quicker to stitch. I hope you enjoy stitching this piece expect it in you mailbox soon. Hugs, Melisa

      Delete
  5. I think this is so sweet! Thanks for sharing and I love filling you on Instagram!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is the sweetest, Vicky. Thank you for making my day. It is a lot of fun seeing what everybody is stitching and being enabled on IG and on different blogs for sure. I am so grateful that you came to visit me and that you left me such a kind comment. Have a blessed day. And I hope you enjoy the stitch. Hugs, Melisa

      Delete
  6. Melisa this is absolutely perfect design for Halloween 🎃
    Thank you so much for sharing your designs ❤️

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Druscilla. I hope all is going well in your neck of the woods . I sure have been inspired by all of your lovely IG Halloween stitches and vignettes. I so appreciate you visiting on my blog too and leaving my a sweet compliment ; it means the world. I hope you enjoy Willowisp.Have a great fall day. Hugs, Melisa

      Delete
  7. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful pattern to stitch- It is adorable !!
    Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  8. Is there a PDF for the design with pumpkins instead of jack-o-lanterns. It is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love these designs so much! Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love these house designs, thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you for your blog and sharing your beautiful work.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love, love, love all your decor for each holiday and season! Is Halloween Manor the house with the quilt blocks? Those cats are so cute! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aaah thank you so much, dear. Oh yes Halloween Manor does have the quilt blocks on it. I hope to post it soon. I had a ball stitching all of the cats. Lol. Thank you for the sweet visit.

      Delete
  13. Thank you so much for your generosity. I finished stitching this one yesterday and will enjoy putting it out every year when decorating for Halloween.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aaw you are so welcome, Rita. I am so excited to hear that you stitched this humble Halloween home. I sure hope you enjoyed it . I can not tell you how honored I am that you stitched it . Thank you so much. Happy stitching.

      Delete