Thursday, April 9, 2009

William Morris Crafts

My dear friend Tess, of Midnight Muse, recently celebrated a birthday, and my gift to her was themed to go into her absolutely breathtakingly beautiful William Morris-themed dining room in her home. Tess has a beautiful and very unique antique Morris-style chair in the room, and she had mentioned that she'd love to recover it in Strawberry Thief. Well, the fabric itself can be darn expensive, so I used a book my mom had given me to make an iron-on transfer, paint it, and create a throw pillow!

For those of you who want accents of William Morris on a budget, and have a steady hand, this book is full of wonderful designs to transfer and use to create beautiful Morris accent pieces!


There are all sorts of books out there for William Morris crafters. The newest of these is a book on William Morris in Applique that looks extremely fun to try.


And of course there is Beth Russell...her book, her website, and her wonderful items for the needlepoint enthusiast.

I'm sure there are many others out there, so if I've missed something, please shout it out in the comments!

11 comments:

Hermes said...

I so love that cushion.

Grace said...

Thanks Hermes! I so enjoyed how it turned out, I think I'll definitely have to make another pillow with a design from that book for myself! :)

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

What a great idea! I hadn't seen these books out. I must go looking for them! Thanks for the beauty and inspiration!! Anita

Anonymous said...

Oh, that pillow is such a lovely gift. What a good friend you are!

alaine@éclectique said...

Thankyou, Grace, I've been looking for inspiration for something new to do and this is it! I've already done the WM cross-stitch cushions. I love his designs; used to sell the WM wallpaper.

LBx

Michele Hill said...

Hello Grace - I just came across your beautiful blog by accident - what a joy to find you! I am the creator of the "William Morris in Applique" book and am obsessed with Morris as I see you are!
Hope you don't mind but I might drop by occasionally - regards, michele from South Australia

Grace said...

Michele, I'm very honored! I searched out your website, and I am in awe of the amazing quilts you make. I hope I'll be able to get your book and try some of your designs.

Margaret said...

Beth Russell has done a lovely needlepoint pattern for Strawberry Thief (my mom did a chair cover from it). Needlepoint done in wool is definitely one of the most durable chair covers around, but it takes so much time (I like the sound of the applique! A lot less work! Nonetheless, I do love looking at Beth Russell's books--so inspiring.

Grace said...

I *so* admire anyone who can needlepoint. Me, I doubt I'd have the patience. I tried cross stitch for a while in high school, and then said "oh forget it...I'd rather just paint this image and be done with it"

I have no patience! :D

Robin said...

I thought of you when I found this site yesterday!:
spoonflower.com
You can upload a design and get fabric printed!

Grace said...

$18 a yard isn't even that bad either!