I finally am posting our finished nursery! My husband and I have been working on this since January, but we only got the last of the artwork hung on the walls last weekend, while photo uploading was still broken. Now I can finally share our work, and the work of so many talented LC friends with you all!
View from the doorway. Since little Godzilla is a Rainbow Baby, there is a lot of sunshine, and rainbow references in the room. The sun rug is from Kathy Kuo Home. The stunningly beautiful quilt hanging off the side of the crib was made by the incredibly talented @FiberAlchemist. It’s an amazing hexagon, and I’m really hoping she’ll create a project post all about it so you can see the detail. The rocking chair to the side of the crib was bought for me, by my grandmother when I was born. She found it at a thrift sale, and had the seat re-cained way back then. My parents kept it in great shape, so now it’s ready for a new little person to rock in it.
The sunshine painting and the text art (she is sunshine, mixed with a little hurricane) were created custom by my friend Jessica, who has a shop of her own over at Bourbon & Spark on Etsy. The mobile was found on Amazon, and the decorative bracket it hangs from was from another Etsy artist by the name of Fetroll in Poland.
Since it will be a little while before Godzilla is big enough to sleep in her crib, a pack of Dragon Pillows has taken up residence. The crib is from Babyletto, and was picked because it was rated best for short moms. Since I’m just 4’11", it seemed perfect for me!
On the side wall are some cloud shelves I found at Target, that contain a few special friends. The lower has a little grey squirrel made by @PerfectlyBohemian during the 2019 Asheville Meetup and a clouded leopard that my husband received when I sponsored one in his name at the Nashville Zoo a few Christmases ago; it had been in his home office, but he decided to share with the baby. On the upper shelf is a needle felted plant, also by PerfectlyBohemian; and an awesome crocheted owl by the wonderful @AntBee; and a dinosaur sent by my cousin Maggie. Below them is a special creation by @Harlan.
I had seen an inspiration piece on Amazon Handmade, by an artist in Israel, but I’ve had such a huge crush on Harlan’s artwork over the years, I asked if she would be willing to take on a similar idea, but in her own amazing style. Of course she went above and beyond, surpassing the inspiration by miles. I adore the swirling texture of the clouds, the movement of the sweet little bluebirds of happiness, and the amazing detail of the girl on the swing, with her red hair, and her rainbow heart sequins on her dress. And of course, her tiny squirrel friend beside her! (Hence totally having to add in PerfectlyBoho’s squirrel to match!)
In the corner beside the window is a crocheted rainbow Granny Spiral I made for a rainbow themed challenge over on Deadster. The inner circle is a 1" keychain ring, and the outer hoop is 14".
It has been hanging in my craft studio since I made it, but I decided it has really just been waiting for Godzilla to arrive, for it to have a real home. The pattern is Rainbow Granny Spiral Suncatcher by Jamie Ramsey. She created it with 6 colors, each used twice, but I went with 12 individual colors instead. The clouds were based off of this Cloud Applique pattern by Maria Bittner, but I free-formed them a bit. Then I added the strands of teardrop beads, and I covered the rest of the hoop in a blue yarn that was mottled with bits of white.
Turning away from the window and past the closet, is a reading and nursing nook with a glider rocker. I wanted a comfortable corner for breast feeding, so the shelf serves duel purpose as a book case and a side table for me to keep a snack or beverage, (or my breast pump!). Jim even fished a power strip under the chair so I can plug in a phone or my pump. Back in October I created a scrappy stash busting rainbow afghan as my first project for the baby. Since I felt like the rocker was perfectly nice, though a little boring, I covered it with the afghan to brighten it up and give it a more homey feel. Both the navy poof, and the bookshelf were found at At Home. The shelf contains so many wonderful baby books from friends like @sheepBlue and @kittykill, as well as some baby’s first philosophy books from my SIL (DH double majored in Computer Science and Philosophy in college), some baby’s first D&D books, that I got my husband for his birthday, and even some baby Shakespeare & Jane Austen (as I was a Theatre & English major in college). The teddy bear on top was Jim’s childhood bear, that is at least 30 years old. I gave poor sweet Chico a good long soak in Oxiclean, and he’s like a whole new bear. The mug rug on top of the shelf was made by @FiberAlchemist in a mug rug swap several years ago and had been holding sewing supplies in my studio, but now will be seen more in the nursery.
Above all that is a gallery wall of some of my favorite pieces. Starting top left and going clockwise, is a painting of an owl delivering mail that I picked up at a street fair; the wooden Bee Kind sign was created by @lindyv321; on the end is a drawing of Godzilla rampaging through teacups & yarn, created by PerfectlyBoho as part of the invitation to my baby shower; next is a painting by our very own @Abbeeroad, full of my favorite colors, and made when I really needed a little extra hope in my life. Beside that is an embroidered version of the Weasley Clock that made by @fatewineroses in an HP Swap several years back. (Thank you to Abbeeroad for helping jog my memory on that one!) Next is a notecard of a bee, from a stamp that PerfectlyBoho carved. Above is a painting by my friend Jess (who did the art over the crib), of Godzilla rampaging through Nashville, destroying some of its most famous landmarks with rainbow fire breath, including the Opry, the Parthenon, and even the Batman Building (aka the AT&T building). And finally, a lovely knitted rainbow heart made by @AntBee. (In case you’re wondering why my future daughter’s room is filled with Godzilla references, it’s a bit of a joke. My husband nicknamed her Abigail Godzilla way back at week 11 of the pregnancy, and since we haven’t figured out her real name yet, we’ve just called her Godzilla since then.)
The final side of the room has a light butter yellow accent wall. While I am more sedate with my wall painting choices, my husband really likes accent walls. I was worried about it looking ‘too much’, with the rest of the room, but I honestly love how it came out and I’m so glad he talked me into it. It makes for such a cheerful surprise when you turn and see it. The changing table from Babyletto and the rainbow changing pad cover (and the rainbow crib sheets) are both from Honest. Above that is a scrappy star quilt that was made by @Edel & I together. Early on in the pandemic we decided to swap quilt tops only, so that we could ship them lighter, and let the other person finish them. We agreed to both work only from stash, and I love the results on both of our sides.
Not to be missed, is a beautiful knitted rainbow from @Abbeeroad. We already had a hook on the door, so I wanted to hang something there, but it needed to be something that would be quiet, to not wake sleeping Godzillas, and Abbee’s rainbow was perfect. It’s so soft, it doesn’t make a sound, but definitely sets the tone for the happy room inside.
To everyone who contributed something amazing and beautiful to this room, thank you so very much. Truly, and from the bottom of my heart. This has been an incredibly long, often painful, road that we have navigated, and I’m quite certain I would have lost my way a long time ago if not for the love and support of friends here. Every time I see something one of you made in this room, I can’t help but know that love and good wishes went into each and every stitch or brush stroke. That the community we have here is so special and so precious. I can’t wait to bring our daughter home to be surrounded by so much handmade love, in just a few days.