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‘The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.’ Happy Birthday William Morris!

24th March 2017

There’s few artists that have had the same impact of William Morris in terms of his contribution to British arts and design. His legacy has lasted to influence the arts industry today- we can see his designs in brands from Marc Jacobs to Topshop. Whilst we blog about Morris and his achievements year round, today more than any other day it’s important to take the time to remember the man behind his legacy.

Morris was born in Walthamstow on March 24th, 1834. He became a textile designer and artist, a writer, poet and a socialist who was both heavily involved and influential in the English Arts and Crafts movement and with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Originally, after being educated at Oxford, he trained as an architect, however he was highly interested in the arts, and after being influenced by some of the big names in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood including Rossetti he became more and more involved in the arts. Together with these friends, he created art that has stood the test of time, today many of the stain glass windows in England’s churches were designed by Morris & Co. St James’ Palace in London being one of their first commissions; if you research into what they created together, their work is vast and rather beautiful!

He married Jane Burden in 1859, who modelled in many of the Pre-Raphaelites art work, she was an unconventional beauty, but became one of their favourite models. Philip Webb, Morris’ friend, was commissioned to build them a house on some land he had bought in Kent, which at that time was a rural area (today, Bexleyheath is a suburb of London.) If you’ve ever visited Red House, you’ll know Webb did a great job of creating the home Morris envisioned; a modern home which would be ‘medieval in spirit.’ He furnished the house himself, a visit will show you the Morris’ wallpaper and designs throughout the home. He created these with the help of a few friends, since he was particular in what he wanted and felt he couldn’t find that anywhere, from the success of this, a business was born; Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. This company produced a range of domestic furniture and wallpaper (again, because Morris couldn’t find any he liked enough to use in his home.)

Happy Birthday William Morris! What is your favourite design of his? Ours (right now!) is his Brother Rabbit design!

Make sure you’ve read our past blogs for a more detailed insight into Morris- with such a wide range of interests and talents there’s lots for us to cover!

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Autumn tables could potentially be one of our favourites! 🤎 Featuring our William Morris Compton design 🍂🧡
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#williammorris #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #fabric #compton #autumnal #autumntable #autumntablescape
Weekend evenings warming cookies in the oven 🍪👩‍🍳 Using our Golden Lily oven gloves of course 🤎
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#autumn #autumnevenings #williammorris #cookies #goldenlily #preraphaelite
We adore these stunning Morris designs all together, don’t you? 🤎
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#williammorris #morris #morrisdesign #fatquarters #quiltingfabric #preraphaelite #craftfabric #craftfabrics #fabric
Willow Bough Blue is back in stock! ✨ Year-round this design is an incredibly popular one, isn’t it incredible that it was designed by William Morris in 1887 and remains so timeless all these years later! 🩶
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#williammorris #morris #willowbough #design #floraldesign #williammorrisdesign #preraphaelites #victoriandesign
🪡 Restocked!🧵 Our William Morris crafts, quilting and Archive Products Market has had a re stock! 🤎 Be quick though, there’s only one of most items! 🏃🏽‍♀️
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#williammorris #morris #morrisfabric #sale #preraphaelite #florals #independantbusiness
Cosy season is here! 🍂 we’re lighting all the candles and getting the autumnal decor out 🍁 With 100 days to go (sorry to mention but we’d do a year countdown if it were up to us!) there’s some fabulous gifts in our archive and craft sale- that we’ve been secretly restocking every day ☺️ Have you bought any prezzies yet? 🎁 also wait for our future post on how to make these pumpkin napkins! 🎃
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#williammorris #preraphaelite #cosytablescape #autumnaltablescape #compton #morrisfloral #florals #autumnflorals
We’ll miss the beautiful summer florals, but also can’t wait for some autumnal flowers and foliage! 🌿
Ft beautiful Strawberry Thief blue 🍓
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #preraphaelite #victorianart #strawberrythief #florals #summerflorals #autumnflowers
Do you have a fave out of these beautiful William Morris florals? 🌿 We could never pick just one 🪻 
Designs top row; Willow Bough Green & Golden Lily 
Designs bottom row; Pimpernel Cream, Pimpernel Green & Compton ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #fabrics #fatquarter #fatquarterbundle #fatquarterfriday #preraphaelite #yorkshirebusiness
Inspired by nature and designed by William Morris, aren’t they all just such beautifully timeless designs 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #fabric #floralfabric #floralfabrics #florals #englishfloral #independantbusiness #ukbusiness
Back in stock alert! 🫧 A firm favourite for many, we absolutely love William Morris Brother Rabbit design, don’t you? 🫶🏻 If you’d like a sample, just send us a message 💌
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #brotherrabbit #fabric #quiltingfabric #quilting #ukquiltingfabric #floralfabric #curtainfabric #upholsteryfabric
Calling all quilters! 🫧 Our 100% cotton fat quarters are now available individually on our website! In all our licensed William Morris designs, they are incredible for quilts 🪡 If you order four, you get one free, so please message us to choose the design of your free fat quarter 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #floraldesign #fatquartershop #fatquarters #fatquarter #fatquarterbundle #quilting #quiltingfabric