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A Very William Morris Christmas

30th December 2016

Whilst walking round a very festive Ilkley in Yorkshire last week, we stumbled across a book shop, selling The Twelve Days of Christmas with illustrations by Liz Catchpole (with all the original William Morris artwork belonging to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.)

The special edition of the book takes the classic Christmas carol and allows her to combine Morris’ designs and the lyrics of the song to create this beautiful book which we’re sure will be a firm favourite amongst many for years to come! It was also interesting to read how the V&A has a long association with beginning Christmas traditions; in 1843, the world’s first Christmas card was sent by their founding director, Henry Cole. It was also Prince Albert- V&A’s patron and founder, who began the custom of decorating a Christmas tree in Britain- inspired by the German custom.

Bringing the artwork to life, in line with the song, Liz Catchpole introduces new artwork, heavily influenced by Morris, along with Morris’ classic designs in this book.

Four Calling Birds; Strawberry Thief

This design will always be one of our favourites, not only for the beautiful design itself, but for the glimpse it gives us into Morris’ life. Whilst we can see glimpses of the man through his work ethic, his writings and poetry, his letters and designs, it’s not possible to talk to someone who died over 100 years ago and ask about his day to day life with his friends and family; the undocumented everyday life of someone who’s legacy inspires thousands of designers in particular so long after he created his designs. We therefore love the stories written about his life at Kelmscott Manor, from his letters, or his daughters Jenny and May recollections of their father.

May Morris conjured up this scene when speaking of the design, “You can imagine my Father going out in the early morning and watching the rascally thrushes at work on the fruit beds and telling the fanned who growls ‘I’d like to wring their necks!’ that no bird in the garden must be touched. There were certainly more birds than strawberries in spite of attempts at protection. And the walls of the little dining-room are hung with this note of the June garden and the little lords of it.”

Eleven Pipers Piping; Pimpernel

This Licensed William Morris design was first produced in 1876, the design is named after the small pimpernel flowers rather than the large poppies that dominate it. This pattern can be seen in the Billiard Room at Wightwick Manor which is incredibly beautiful. This design has a green background and cream poppies, we also have the design available in Pimpernel Cream. We love this pattern, producing it in Green and Cream.

 

This is a beautiful book, if you have chance to pick it up, make sure you do, there’s so many other pages which showcase his designs with a festive twist!

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For the keen baker or chef, a beautiful oven glove is such a perfect Christmas gift 🫶🏻🎄 This is our beautiful William Morris Daisy design ✨
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#williammorris #daisy #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #design #ovengloves #ovenglove #christmasgift #christmasgiftideas
Black Friday Giveaway! ✨ We thought we’d do a fun little giveaway of a bundle of half metres of our licensed William Morris fabrics to celebrate there being 20% off our entire website for Black Friday! 🤎 Whether you want to win them to create some beautiful crafts or to give to your favourite quilter and crafter this Christmas, we hope you enter! 🎄

To enter, just:
- make sure you’re following us
- like this post
- tag everyone you think would love this prize (every comment is an entry)
- for an extra entry, share on your stories

Winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday 4th December so be quick to enter! 🫶🏻

What’s included; a half metre of Blue Strawberry Thief, Pimpernel Green, Willow Bough blue, Sweet Briar, Brother Rabbit blue and Daisy, all cotton fabric 🪡🧵
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We made these little Christmas trees using our Morris fabrics a few years ago and this year altered them from a garland to ornaments for our tree 🎄 Aren’t they so cute, they add so much colour ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #christmascrafts #crafts #christmastree #floral #labrador #lablife #blacklab
How to fold our favourite napkin fold of the year- a Christmas tree! 🎄 Super easy but super effective, we love putting it on the plates to lay the table with some little chocolate coins slotted in as if they’re baubles! 🎄✨ Will you try this napkin fold? ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #shopsmall #shopsmallbusiness #napkins #napkinfolding #napkinfolds #christmastable #christmastable
Can’t stop posting this Christmas table set up 🎄 Christmas table florals have our heart! 🫶🏻
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#flowerarranging #yorkshirebusiness #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #mallow #flowersmakethehome #florals #christmasflorals #christmastable
Free gift wrap? Oh go on then! 🎁 From now until Christmas, if you message us immediately after ordering with your order number and your gift wrap message (optional!) we will wrap your order for free ✨ We just want to make Christmas as easy as possible for everyone so if you find wrapping a faff, want us to write the tag to keep secret Santa a suprise or you’d like to send the gift straight to your loved one, we’re here to help 🎄 From our website straight under the tree, spend more time enjoying Christmas and less trying to find the sellotape 👏🏼
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Did you know all our fabrics are printed in the UK and all our products manufactured in the UK too? 🇬🇧 We hope you enjoy shopping small this Christmas 🎄✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #christmastablescape #christmastablesetting #christmastable #floraldesign #shopsmall #independantbusiness
We think you’d be very popular if you made one of these beautiful Morris advent calendars for your loved ones! 🫶🏻 So easy to make, let us know if you would like a tutorial on how to make your own using our Morris fabric🎄 
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Isn’t this time of year so beautiful, we love our candle table floral arrangement, perfect for dressing up for dinner or down for hot chocolates! ☕️🍫
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#williammorris #floraltable #floraltablescape #florals #myfloraldays
We love the idea of setting the table with a little stocking gift hanging from everyone’s chair ✨ 
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We absolutely love setting the table this time of year, aren’t Christmas tablescapes so magical ✨ This central floral arrangement is the star of the show this week 🫶🏻🕯️ Anyone want a tutorial on how to fold these Christmas tree napkins? 🎄
On the table; William Morris Mallow Wine pvc fabric and matching napkins ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #christmasflorals #candlelight #floralarrangement #floralarrangements #christmastablesetting #christmastablescape
Beautiful Strawberry Thief ovengloves are back in stock! 🍓 A perfect Christmas gift, remember you can always gift wrap your items at checkout to make Christmas a little easier, then either send it to yourself or we’ll write the tag with your message and send it straight to your loved one 🥰 
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Christmas tablescapes are a go! ✨ Our Brother Rabbit blue pvc fabric and napkins are on the table and look so beautiful paired with our dressed up garland! 🎄 If you’re planning your Christmas table, remember there’s 20% off everything right now with code: floralfriday at checkout 🌿
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Every Morris lovers best friend needs one of our new beautiful dog bandanas! 🐾 Hand made in Yorkshire, aren’t they adorable! 🐕‍🦺
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Beautiful Willow Bough, one of our all time fave Morris designs 🌿 The matching set is a beautiful Christmas gift to brighten up their home all year! 🫧 20% off now for Black Friday too if you use code; floralfriday 🌷
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Yippee it’s here! ✨ Use code: FLORALFRIDAY at checkout on our website only for 20% off everything - including sale items! 🫧
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Get ready for flower arranging class with us 🌷 Our beautiful Willow Bough William Morris pvc apron is perfect to protect your outfit from splashes when cooking, crafting or cutting your stems! 🌿🫶🏻
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We couldn’t resist another pic of our bonfire night set up! 🫶🏻 our PVC fabric is such a popular option for the table as it’s wipe clean, so any spills can just be quickly fixed 🫧 We wouldn’t reccomend lighting sparklers in the house or over your tablecloth though! 🙃
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🎆 Take 15% off our whole website for 48 hours only using code: BONFIRE at checkout 🔥 (we’ve also launched gift sets including half metre gift sets for the quilters and crafters in your life, you get a half metre free when you purchase the set and they come gift wrapped… this is is soft launching Christmas Incase everyone says we’re too early.. but also our Christmas trees are already up so we’re ready to talk about it when you are? Let us know?) 🎄
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Had to video us cutting beautiful William Morris Willow Bough today, this heavyweight fabric is off to be made into curtains, it’ll look so stunning! 🫶🏻 If you’d like a free sample just let us know ☺️
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