Frances May’s Patchwork Nursery
Baby’s Name: Frances May, 10 months
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Room Size: 4 meters x 4 meters
“Distinctively sweet, luxurious, beautiful and somewhat quirky” is how Kathryn, a.k.a Lady Bird, describes the bespoke quilts she sews for her business, Maggie and Sparrow. It’s no surprise, then, that the nursery she created for her most recent baby bird, Frances, has the same qualities. The room contains a mix of pieces that are vintage and modern, smooth and textured, sophisticated and sweet. And from this eclectic patchwork comes the warm, soft feeling of a much loved quilt.
<
What was your inspiration in designing this room?
Creating a calm and neutral space with vintage, modern and quirky pieces. I was particularly drawn to duck egg blue and used this as my base colour. The eclectic collection of deer’s, rabbits and birds is somewhat accidental. I guess I was drawn to them and I love what they represent. The deer represents gentleness, caring and kindness, rabbits adventure and birds freedom and these are quality’s I hope are important to Frances too.
What is your favorite element?
The “art” wall as they are pieces I collected through out the pregnancy and they all have their own special meaning, story and emotion attached to them. They set the tone of the room and no matter what time of night or how many times I was getting up as soon as I entered her room I felt the magic that had been created.
What was your biggest challenge?
I didn’t really have one. Frances room evolved over time. I didn’t have a clear vision of how I wanted it too look. I just found pieces by looking through second hand stores and spending to many hours on etsy, I just bought pieces I loved and it all seemed to work together. An eclectic / patchwork of old meets new!
Please tell us about the pieces you made in this room.
There are many handmade pieces in her room as this is my preference when shopping. I made the patchwork quilt of course. I love it as I was able to include all my favourite fabrics. I also did little things like painting frames white and I also had the rug dyed as it was originally cream but had collected a few stains over the years but was a too good a rug to throw away!
What was your biggest indulgence?
The vintage timber dresser. I have wanted one for ever, and when I saw this one I new it would be perfect in the nursery to hide all those things you don’t want people to see!
Any resources/stores you’d like to share with us?
Etsy!
A huge thank you to Kathryn, and please be sure to have a look at her beautiful online shop, Maggie and Sparrow, to see her gorgeous handmade quilts. They are truly works of art.