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Our Californian Roadtrip

24th June 2018

It’s hard to drive around California on a road trip without feeling like you’re in some sort of Hollywood film. From singing Phantom Planet’s ‘California’ down the coastal Pacific Coast Highway to saying every palm tree being shadowed by the sunset looks like The Eagles ‘Hotel California’ album cover. There’s few places as represented in the media and in movies than California and Hollywood, so driving round and discovering new and exciting places was something we were so excited to do – so we thought we’d share the highlight reel of our adventures with you and, of course, how we used our William Morris tote bags during our holiday.

We flew into San Francisco and spent a few days in the area, walking the Golden Gate Bridge and exploring the Red Wood Trees just above the city. We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather – in the past when we’ve been we’ve experienced the ‘June Gloom’ so we were excited to miss that! Whilst on the ground it was very hot, walking over the Golden Gate you get caught in the wind from the bay and it becomes quite cold so we packed some jumpers in our bag (and some snacks too – what’s better than a snack break with a view!)

We spent some time driving down along the coast paddling in the ocean, taking Pacific Coast Highway down to the Big Sur – it’s an incredible 655.8 mile drive in total down the Californian coast which takes you through various counties and shows various parts of the rugged coast, beautiful beaches and even redwood forests. Whichever portion of the road you drive, whether you choose to do it all in an epic road trip or just parts, you’ll see some amazing sights so remember to plan in some time for stops along the way to get out the car and marvel at the view and take a walk down the beaches when you can. We usually go to Whole Foods Market and get one of their salads and take it for a picnic along the way in our Morris tote bags so that we can enjoy the view. We didn’t manage to visit this time due to work being done on the road and also time restrictions, but we’d fully recommend visiting Nepenthe restaurant which, sitting on top of the Santa Lucia mountains, has the most incredible panoramic views over the rugged coast – with the ocean going on for miles in every direction and the sun sparkling on the water, it’s easy to see why movie stars for years have been attracted to the spot. The restaurant was opened in 1949 on land purchased from Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth (who had the intention to have the property as a vacation home.) The restaurant was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright protege Rowan Maiden and it was his vision that the restaurant sat in the landscape  without interrupting the beauty of the coast. Over the years, creatives of every type have flocked to the restaurant and Nepenthe became a central part of the community – the name Nepenthe is actually a reference to Homer’s Odyssey – taking the name of the drug which banished trouble and grief from the consumers mind. There’s been some impressive Hollywood names from the glamorous era including Joan Baez, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton who ate at the restaurant regularly whilst shooting the 1965 film ‘The Sandpiper’ in the Big Sur. As we sat looking out over the view, eating a generous portion of fish and chips, it wasn’t hard to see why it’s remained such a popular haunt for so many – from Hollywood stars to tourists alike. 

 

Make sure to read our next blog to find out what else we got up to on our trip – including National Parks Sequoia and Yosemite and to keep up with our adventures, be sure to follow our Instagram!

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When cutting fabric stacks, we always wonder what is being made from them, we often get messages about quilts being stitched together with various tonal colours, curtains ready to be part of daily life or dresses being sewn to be worn to the next big event, so if you ever make anything from our fabrics- whether it be a huge project or a tiny one made of our scrap bundles, do let us know what you make! 🪡🧵
Can you name the designs within the photo? All sold by the half meter, £18.50 per metre of cotton, £20.50 per metre of heavyweight cotton 🫶🏻
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Mid week tables require; a vase of gorgeous fresh flowers, as many sweet treats as you can get your hands on, and of course, a gorgeous tablecloth set- this Willow Bough blue is one of our all time favourite William Morris designs, it’s utterly timeless and so beautiful 🌿
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The table details;
Willow Bough blue napkins- £16.99
Willow Bough tablecloths- starting at £29.99 depending on size 
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A little update from us 🇬🇧
From 1st July, our product prices will be increasing due to continued rises in manufacturing and material costs.
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Enjoy 10% off your order until 14th June
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Gorgeous postbox 📮 If you’d like a free sample of any of our fabrics just send us a message and we’ll get them sent out to you 💌 If you’re ordering from abroad, we will always take the parcel to the post office to make sure we’re comparing different postage methods to get the best postage prices for you- we’re wanting to spread the floral goodness global! Today I pottered to the post office to send a lovely pvc apron to Australia which is amazing that Morris is well known world wide! 🐨🦘🇦🇺 
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We want to say a huge THANK YOU to all our lovely customers who have been so patient with us whilst our website checkout has been all in a tizzy - and thank you for your orders on another platform, we appreciate you keeping us going as a small business- but, we’re back up and running now so please use code: THANKYOU at checkout for 15% off until Sunday 🫶🏻✨ (song was me when we finally got tech issues fixed 🫠😂)
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📣 This fabric is on a big sale! 📣 Our red Strawberry Thief drill fabric is currently on sale for £15 a metre 🍓 Our drill fabric is a slightly heavier weight and weave than our heavyweight fabric and is perfect for light upholstery, curtain making and more 🪡🧵 It won’t be on sale long so grab yourself some whilst you can ✨
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The soundtrack to our day- our fabric cutter! 🎼 If you ever order fabric from us this is how we get our cuts so straight ☺️ Did you know that we sell our fabrics by the half meter, so however big or small your project is, we’ve got fabric for you ☺️ This is our gorgeous William Morris Strawberry Thief blue design, it’s very often on our cutting table as it’s so popular! Do you prefer it in red or in blue? 🍓 
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