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!
SaveSave
Posted in News by Laura
All our wonderful William Morris fabrics are digitally printed here in the UK, creating high quality print in incredible colour ways, if you’re quilting and crafting from our cotton and heavyweight cotton fabrics, we thought it’d be handy to have all the pattern repeats in an easy to save post ☺️
•
•
•
#williammorris #craftingfabric #quiltingfabric #floralfabrics #patternfabric
Merton in blue is one of the most beautiful William Morris designs, a timeless blue and white, it was first designed in 1888!
•
•
#williammorris #wmorris #morrisdesign #merton #preraphaelite
If you’d like a sample of Merton, just send us a message and we’ll get one sorted out for you!
•
•
•
#williammorris #floralfabric #blueandwhite #blueandwhitefabric #tablescape
Have you seen Merton before? It’s so underrated as a Morris design we think! It was actually the first design that he printed on rotary screens under the name “Morris & Co.” After their rebrand from “Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.’” 🌿 We’re just appreciating it during peony season!
•
•
•
#peony #peonyseason #morris #morrisandco #preraphaelites
Taking a closer look at beautiful Lily design, a timeless design Morris designed in 1874, if you’d like a sample of Lily, just let us know! 💌
〰️
The table details;
Lily napkins- £16.99 for 4
Lily tablecloths- starting from £29.99 depending on size
Also mentioned;
Lily cotton by the half metre- £9.25
Lily heavyweight cotton by the half metre- £10.25
•
•
•
#williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites #lily #quiltingcotton
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 🫶🏻
•
•
•
#williammorris #wmorris #morrisfabric #floralfabric #quiltingcotton
Putting the spotlight on Mallow Forest Green, we love this design so much it’s so effortlessly beautiful, it’s been admired in homes for more than 147 years since William Morris designed it ✨
〰️
The table details;
Mallow napkins- £16.99
Mallow tablecloths- starting at £29.99 depending on size
•
•
•
#williammorris #weddingtablescape #weddingtableflowers #preraphaelites #artsandcraftsmovement
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 🌿
〰️
The table details;
Willow Bough blue napkins- £16.99
Willow Bough tablecloths- starting at £29.99 depending on size
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #willowbough #englishdesign #myfloralhome
A little update from us 🇬🇧
From 1st July, our product prices will be increasing due to continued rises in manufacturing and material costs.
We’ve worked hard to absorb these increases for as long as possible, but to continue providing the quality you expect from us, a small price adjustment is now necessary.
Every product we create is proudly printed and manufactured here in the UK, using high-quality materials and processes that ensure a finish we’re proud of. Our fabrics are all digitally printed to give a crisp finish.
If you’ve been thinking about placing an order, now is the perfect time — all orders placed before 1st July will be at our current prices.
To thank you for your support, we’re offering an exclusive discount before the new prices take effect.
Use code: thankyou
Enjoy 10% off your order until 14th June
This is the perfect opportunity to place your order at current prices and enjoy an additional saving before the increase.
Thank you for supporting a UK small business and for choosing quality. We truly appreciate every order ❤️
•
•
•
#uksmallbiz #madeintheuk #williammorris #fabricstore #floralfabric
Aren’t these the most gorgeous blooms!! 🫶🏻 This is our William Morris Compton design and it’s so underrated as a design, it’s beautiful year round because all the different details can be brought out of it, pair it with springtime greens to pop the green tones or autumnal burnt oranges during the colder months, it’s so versatile! ✨ Swipe to see my little photoshoot gatecrasher 😂
All our products are digitally printed and manufactured in the UK 🇬🇧
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #compton #artsandcraftsmovement #cottagecorekitchen
Bringing nature indoors, we our gorgeous oven gloves thrown over the cooker- a chic way to make something practical beautiful too! 🫶🏻
•
•
•
#williammorrisfabric #williammorris #wmorris #floralkitchen #pimpernel
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! 🐨🦘🇦🇺
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #smallukbusiness #fabricdesign #postboxesofinstagram
The best season is peony season 🫶🏻 Our favourite flowers, having peonies blooming in the house is always the best ✨ This is our William Morris Merton design, the most stunning blue and white pattern is so timeless ✨
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #wmorris #morrisdesign #blueandwhitedecor
Lily is one of our favourite William Morris designs, it’s such a beautiful botanical design with all those willow leaves in the background 🌿
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #lily #floraltable #floralmagic
Happy Strawberry Thief day! 🍓 On this day in 1883, Morris registered this beautiful design, isn’t it amazing that all these years later, it’s still as timeless as ever now more popular than ever and decorating homes across the world 🐦⬛
•
•
•
#strawberrythief #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #birddesign #floralfabric
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 🫠😂)
•
•
•
#williammorrisfabric #williammorris #wmorris #floralteatowel #williammorrisdesign
📣 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 ✨
•
•
•
#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #ukfabric #curtainfabric
Golden Lily always brings the sunshine indoors ☀️ we’ve got 15% off our website right now with code: florals 🌷
•
•
•
#williammorris #wmorris #goldenlily #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign
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? 🍓
•
•
•
#williammorris #fabricbytheyard #fabricbymeter #floralfabric #ukfabric
The prettiest design; Hearts & Kisses 🤍 An original design, we’ve restored it from our late 1800- early 1900s French archive, we just love how delicate it is 💕 Would you like to see more of our archive designs? 🌷
•
•
•
#floralfabric #craftingfabric #quiltingfabric #dressmakingfabric #fabricstash
An Easter crafting weekend, our pvc wipe clean fabric is perfect for crafting with easy clean up!🌷🐣 Hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend, remember if you’re doing any shopping, our 15% off is still running on our website with code; EASTER 🐣
•
•
•
#eastertable #floralfabric #williammorris #wmorris #morrisfabric
🌟 15% off our website! 🌟 Get your tablescapes sorted for Easter (or get a treat for yourself from the Easter bunny!) with code; EASTER on our website only until Tuesday 7th 🐣🐰
•
•
•
#williammorris #wmorris #eastertable #eastertablescape #floralhome