70th Birthday Sewing & Quilting Cake
Today I want to share with you this Sewing & Quilting Cake that I made to celebrate a 70th birthday.
This cake was emotional for me to make – if there’s one thing in the world that always reminds me of my MawMaw, it’s a beautiful quilt. She hand-stitched them with so much love that I can barely hold the one she gave me without tearing up.
This cake was not for her, but in my heart – it was about her. She never really saw that many of my decorated cakes, but I wanted to make her proud with this one. I wished with all of my heart that she had been alive to see it… I’m certain she would’ve loved it!
March 9 would’ve been her birthday… so I’m sharing it in honor of her. I sure do miss you MawMaw…. I’m always a little warmer sleeping under your quilt.
Okay – so let me tell you about the cake. My client ordered it for her mother who was celebrating her 70th birthday!
The tiers on this cake were 6″ and 10″. The top was chocolate cake and the bottom was butter cake. It was filled and frosted with vanilla buttercream, then decorated with homemade marshmallow fondant and Satin Ice Red fondant.
For the borders on the cake, I used a Straight Frill Cutter from this set. The letters were done with Block Tappit Cutters and Funky Alphabet Cutters. You can see how I use Tappit Cutters here.
I used this Wilton Fabric Silicone Mold for all of the buttons and the blue ribbon you see hanging there. That’s a very handy little mold if you find yourself doing any sort of sewing/quilting or even baby themed cake!
I wanted to add lots of details and color for this cake… I just felt like it need to scream HAPPY!
While I wanted the quilt to be front and center, I knew the cake would be better balanced if I didn’t have it right down the middle of the cake. So I added it off to the side and back. But I absolutely made sure to take pics so I could show you! I didn’t have a plan when doing the quilt – I just randomly chose patterns and colors!
To do some of the details, I used a stitching tool, ribbon cutter, floral impression mat, small flower cutters, damask onlay, miniature circle and square cutters, and another Straight Frill Cutter for the edge.
I think of all the elements on this cake… I loved the spools of thread the most! I can’t explain why they made me smile then and still do now… more than a year later! 🙂
So that’s it… I hope you love this cake as much as I do!
Do you have any questions about this Sewing & Quilting Cake? If so, leave me a comment
How did you make the spools of thread? They are adorable!
I’ll have to try to do a quick tutorial on that – they’re easy!
Oh good! I can’t wait!
I realize this is an old post, but did you ever get to make a tutorial for the spool of thread? I am making a cake for my grandma’s 90th and that is the only part that is giving me issues! I would love to see how you did this…I have a feeling I know but want to see yours!
I didn’t Alison, I’m sorry. But it wasn’t hard. If I remember correctly, I made the center cylinder out of fondant. Then I rolled some thin and used circle cutters to cut out the end pieces. Then I used an extruder to make the “thread” and wrap it around.
I absolutely love this cake so much! Your Maw-Maw is looking down from heaven marveling at this beautiful tribute to her legacy. Great job luv! Sniff-sniff:-)….
Thank you Wanda! xo
Awesome cake. I love all of your work What an inspiration. I have one question to ask. When I use fondant, I also use corn starch on the surface wen I roll it out. But, I noticed that Im getting a lot of powder on my fondant as I cover the cake. Very hard to get off when Im trying to decorate the cake. How do you keep this from happening. What do you use?
Hi Karla! I use The Mat to roll my fondant out, so I dont’ use corn starch or powdered sugar anymore. However, I used to use corn starch and then I’d rub shortening all over the cake with a paper towel to make the corn starch disappear.
It is GORGEOUS! I love all the happy colors and details.
A beautiful cake!
Thank you! xx
Hello Rose,I love all ur posts! reside in Nigeria and want to find out your address to know if u do training program .Thanks
Hi Rose! Do you make your own cake boards? I notice in this picture it’s white and I don’t see any white boards for sale. I always see them in a foil material. If you do make them, Would you do a tutorial on it? I just notice that when people try to make it themselves that it doesn’t look very professional and u can tell that it was home made. This one looks very smooth and professional. Thank you!
Hi Tatiana – I buy pre-made white boards at CountryKitchenSA.com OR I tape together 3 boards (whatever size I need) and I cover with white floral paper (also purchased at Country Kitchen Sweetart).
Beautiful cake. Was wondering how you made the scissors. They are perfect.
Thank you! They were really one of the hardest things. I just took a small pair of scissors to use as a model and hand-cut each piece with an Xacto blade. You may notice that I didn’t do a straight-on, up-close pic of them because they really weren’t well proportioned.
Thanks. I have made scissors before and they are terrible to make.
Hi Rose! A question regarding the quilt…Did you make the quilt and individual pieces and let it dry for a bit prior to adhering it to the cake?! Thank you so much! I love your tutorials and website!
I actually put it on the cake as soon as I finished it so it could mold to the cake.
Is there another way to make the buttons without the mold? I’m in a time crunch, and don’t have time to order the molds.
You can cut out small circles with round cookie cutters (or the back end of piping tips) and then use small round piping tips to cut out the button holes.
Thank you so much! This is amazing!!!
I was inspired by your wonderful cake to make one myself. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101427407461245&type=1&l=af185bd338
My mother is a quilter who also happened to be turning 70!
Awesome job Johnny! Thanks for sharing!