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18th April 2019
William Morris, born in 1834, remains a famous British textile designer, artist writer, poet and social activist; amongst other things. He remains one of the best known artists and designers; his art has remained, transcending years to still be as relevant and beautiful today as it was when he first produced it.
Using traditional methods of production, Morris wanted to move away from the industrialisation that was occurring a the time and back towards more traditional methods of production by talented craftsmen. For example, Strawberry Thief was produced at Merton Abbey using an Indigo Dye Technique. This took days to complete and was a complicated system using an Indigo Vat and Mordants – you can read more about that in this blog.
Today, you will see William Morris designs in indie cafes, bars and restaurants around the UK and further afield – his designs are now popular around the world in Japan. We have an exclusive retailer in Japan and still wonder what Morris would think that his designs are loved world-wide so long after they were first created. Lots of his inspiration came from his garden; Strawberry Thief in particular popular because it was inspired by the Thrushes stealing his strawberries from under the fruit net at his home, Red House (he watched this from on the privy!)
Today, Marc Jacobs has featured his prints, H&M has had an entire collection featuring his designs and quotes from his poetry. You can’t walk down the high street without seeing either an authentic print or one ‘inspired’ by a Morris print. It’s remarkable to think the utter influence he holds even now. It feels like in 2019 more than ever, his popularity is increasing – either by people picking up on a wallpaper and asking about it or researching more into the designs they see and like and enquiring more into it. That’s the great thing about today’s consumer – we ask questions more than ever before and are encouraged to look more into where and how our products are made. That leads them to discover more about Morris himself. Please remember that if you ever want to read about how our products are made and our sustainability pledge, we provide full transparency in this blog.
His art is still featured in world famous galleries such as the Victoria & Albert in London and also the Tate. Featured in many exhibitions about himself but also those of the Pre-Raphaelites and the Arts & Crafts movement – in which he was a huge part of and incredibly influential.
You’ll probably also have heard his most famous quote, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” This has inspired the work of artists and interior designers for hundreds of years!
There’s so many parts of Morris’s legacy that have lived on, each interesting in their own right. Whilst of course, we focus and appreciate his designs in particular, there is so much to read and learn about Morris – make sure to read more on our blog to learn more about him and the other influential members of the Brotherhood, Firm and his family.
Posted in News by Laura
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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#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? 🌷
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#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 🐣
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#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 🐣🐰
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#williammorris #wmorris #eastertable #eastertablescape #floralhome
Replacing all normal eggs with chocolate ones for the foreseeable future 🐣 Brother Rabbit Green on the table always looks so beautiful, we just love this new colour way in this gorgeous William Morris design ✨
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#williammorris #wmorris #eastertable #floraltable #eastertablescape
Spring is officially here! 🌷 Take 15% off our website this weekend with code; EASTER to celebrate spring finally being here, use it to treat yourself or to get those Easter tables ready! 🐣
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#williammorris #wmorris #springfloral #floralkitchen #smallbusiness
Officially mini egg season, so we’ll incorporate them into every meal 🐣🌷 On the table today is our William Morris Lily design, isn’t it a stunning design 🌿
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#williammorris #wmorris #morrisfabric #lily #floraltablescape
Gorgeous flowers this weekend 🤍 We can’t get over the beautiful tulips 🌷 Brother Rabbit blue on the table, do you prefer it in the blue, red or green? 🌿
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#williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites #flowerpowerfabric #flowers
A moment for the greens 🌿 We know sometimes it’s hard imagining different designs together for projects whether you’re quilting with tonal colours or mix matching curtains and cushions, the things you can do with our William Morris fabrics are endless, so seeing them together you can see how beautifully they pair together ✨ We’ll post the blues next so you can see them together too! 🤍 Message us if you’d like a sample of anything, we send them free in the UK 📮
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #quiltingfabric #ukfabric
Back in stock alert! ✨ All sizes of our gorgeous William Morris blue Strawberry Thief tablecloths & napkins 🌿 Sometimes the easiest napkin folds are the most effective (we have no bias towards this being our favourite just because it contains a chocolate egg… promise…) 🐰
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#williammorris #wmorris #strawberrythief #preraphaelites #eastertablescape
Happy International Women’s Day! 🌍 We thought we’d celebrate by bringing you the words from some amazing Pre Raphaelite women, who’s talents shouldn’t have been so overlooked at the time (but luckily now are being celebrated with their contributions to the arts!) be sure to read into their stories if you have a minute today, they’re all so interesting ✨ As a business run by women, it’s always a day to celebrate 💜
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#internationalwomensday #iwd2026 #womensupportingwomen #preraphaelites #preraphaelitesisterhood
Gorgeous Willow Bough blue on the table paired with layers of beautiful @burleighpottery plates 🤍 Always a stunning design to have on the table, did you know it was first produced in 1887, his daughter May Morris wrote of the design, “We were walking one day by our little stream that runs into the Thames and my father pointed out the detail and soon after the paper was done.” We love the behind the design info, painting a beautiful picture of how he was so inspired by nature 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #burleighpottery #uksmallbusiness #blueandwhitedecor
Have you seen our range of table runners? ✨ This gorgeous Golden Lily design adds some Morris floral loveliness to the table, pair with matching napkins and placemats for layer upon layer of floral magic ✨
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#williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites #floraltablerunner #ukdesigner
Some new fabric bundles are now uploaded on our Etsy! ✨ We’ll post the link to our stories to them but some, like in the picture are almost fat quarters, perfect for quilting and crafting, and some are proper scrap bundles full of various sizes and designs, wonderful for crafting- we always wonder what everyone will create from them 🪡 They get rave reviews on our Etsy with crafters and quilters loving them for smaller projects 🥰
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#williammorrisfabric #williammorris #quiltingfabric #craftingfabric #sewingfabric
We’re so ready to see everyone’s beautiful Easter tablescapes! 🐣 our top necessities for an Easter table are multiple eggs and gorgeous flowers- the best combo! This William Morris Brother Rabbit tablecloth is the perfect addition to Easter with all those rabbits all over it! 🐰
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#williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites #easter #eastertablescape
Beauty is always found in the details, our kitchen needs lots of different florals to bring colour and fun to the kitchen - this is our William Morris licensed design Willow Bough in Green, one of our favourite tea towels ✨ Do you have a favourite Morris design tea towel in your kitchen? 🤍
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #wmorris #preraphaelites #willowbough
Have you seen our range of exclusive designs? 🥰 From our exclusive French archive dating back to the late 1800s- early 1900s we’ve faithfully restored them and recoloured them to digitally print them ✨ All perfect for quilting and crafting, they’re such gorgeous designs, in blues and greens (this isn’t the full collection but head to our website to see them all!) 🤍
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#quiltingcotton #craftingfabric #ukfabric #ukfabricshop #quiltingfabric
William Morris designs bring nature indoors with all the florals, birds and botanicals, so we brought some of our garden inside with some beautiful snowdrops on the table - anyone else excited about the garden waking up for spring? 🌱☀️
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#gardenflorals #gardensofengland #williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites
What makes our William Morris oven gloves special? Well….
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#williammorris #wmorris #ovenglove #smallbusiness #floralkitchen
Happy Pancake Day! 🥞 With the sun finally shining here in Yorkshire we had to bring some of it inside with some flowers from the garden- gorgeous snowdrops down the table ☀️ This tablecloth is the beautiful William Morris Trellis, our licensed William Morris design and always a favourite of ours 🫶🏻 Is anyone else starting on the Easter eggs in February? It’s not just us right… 😉
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#williammorris #gardenflowers #snowdropseason #burleighpottery #pancakeday
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