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William Morris Trellis

29th April 2018

Inspired by the rose trellis in the garden of Red House, his home in Bexleyheath, Trellis was the first wallpaper designed by William Morris in 1864. The first three wallpapers he produced, Trellis, Daisy and Fruit are produced using a hand-printing process which took a lot of time to do and therefore cost a lot of money – each colour in the design required a separate block and so the trio of designs used each required 12 blocks so had to wait on these designs until the early 1870s when the Firm’s finances were more balanced.

It’s incredible to think that an artists first three designs are so stunning and have stood the test of time to be relevant and current and stylish so long after they were first designed. The interior fabrics used today are still similar to the ones produced by Morris and his influential designs appear to be still influencing designers and artists of today, how many designs do you look like that have been produced today which are similar or take inspiration from Morris.

Though he designed Trellis first, he did not produce it first as it had to wait for a finishing touch from his lifelong friend Philip Webb to design the birds and insects. The birds within the design are a beautiful addition in the design, which is a classic element of Morris and Webb’s work with naturalistic elements. This design in particular was obviously a firm favourite of both Morris and Webb despite the lots of different designs  they produced since thirty years later Webb used Trellis extensively at Standen. It was also adapted for use for the bed hangings at Kelmscott Manor. The rooms it can still be seen in today are; the morning room corridor and the lobby which leads to the conservatory, May Morris also noted remembering it decorating her bedroom in Queen Square. She even was quoted that she used to lay awake at night scared by one of the birds within the design, ‘because he was thought to be wicked and very alive.’

We license and produce William Morris’s Trellis, one of our newest designs we’ve done on products, it’s grid like pattern dispersed with wildlife, birds and roses on the trellis is a beautiful one and a truly stand out piece not only in the history of William Morris, but even looking at his catalogue of work, remains of our favourites. It seems he didn’t need any lead up to producing one of his most iconic designs!

Also using Trellis as a featured pattern in our William Morris collection which features both Trellis, a photo of William Morris, his photo, signature and also one of his most famous quotes, “have nothing in your houses you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” depending on the product (different products feature various combinations of these.) Words to live by for sure, and ones that are beautiful on a tote bag! We’ve really been enjoying using this William Morris shopper bag as it can be folded down in your handbag until you need it on a shopping trip and then you can bring it out to use it – lightweight, useful and chic!

Have a look at our full range of Trellis products here and scroll down to see more of our beautiful products…

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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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#williammorris #wmorris #morrisfabric #floralfabric #quiltingcotton
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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#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 ❤️
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#uksmallbiz #madeintheuk #williammorris #fabricstore #floralfabric
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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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 ✨
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#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 🌿 
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#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 🐦‍⬛ 
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#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 🫠😂)
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#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 ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #strawberrythief #ukfabric #curtainfabric
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