So, Mary is almost 2!

I have been such a busy bee since I checked in last, I've been prepping for imminent babies, and a sweet little birthday party!

Finally I can properly share the little quilts I made for the sweet baby boy my brother and his fiancee are expecting:

This is the quilt I made with the fabrics that Mum found in a charity store. The three fabrics she spotted are the ones in the large squares. I wish I had noticed those two dark squares in the middle and separated them. It's funny that you see things immediately in photos that don't jump up right away in real life.

And since we were going with an owl theme, I added some borders to this panel and made it up too:

They were gifted on Sunday when we went to the Glen Ewin Estate for high tea with our family. It was so lovely. The grounds are just beautiful and the high tea absolutely divine.

So very delicious, and it was hard to leave after such a wonderful time.

Because that celebration was finished, next I needed to focus on finishing little Mary's quilt which is making up part of her birthday present. I'm super thrilled that I finished stitching down the binding on Wednesday evening:

I don't think the blocks of background fabric that are pieced are noticeable at all, so that's a relief. After I'd finished the quilt top, I realised that I may have a piece of the same fabric in my William Morris box so it's possible I needent have pieced the squares, I haven't had a chance to check yet, but I will look - not that it will change anything, it's too late to alter it now.

Thursday I had a few big orders for painted heads to fulfil, and then it was time to start baking Mary's birthday cake. I had the four layers done by bedtime last night, and today was final assembly.

But first up0, Amy wanted some guidance icing cupcakes for the party, so she came along this afternoon and finished making up these lovely things:

It thrills me that Amy has been becoming crafty and also loves creating in the kitchen.

And then it was my turn to put the cake together:

This cake was a bit of a learning project for me - it's the first time I'd tried the drizzle icing, which was easier than I thought. Also, I tried Italian buttercream for the first time. I do love that it's not as sweet as regular buttercream, but I found it a bit harder to work with and make smooth, so I'll probably stick to regular buttercream in the future. I also had the devil of a time halving the macarons, so I don't think I'll bother to do that again lol. It's all learning for me, so I know I'll do a little better with each cake.

So, that's where I'm at as of right now. I'm pretty worn out, so I don't think I'll be long out of bed. So, I'll leave off here with a promise that I'll chatter again soon! xox