Princess Chuck and the Queen Bee

When the Princess was small the Queen Bee would make her dresses.  Beautiful dresses with tiny pink or blue flowers.  They had lace on the collars and contrasting pockets and they were perfect for a princess.  Well, not the swirly twirly princess dresses of today but perfect for princess named Chuck.
She taught her how to make soap.  Tried to teach her how to make cheese and led the way through a wide swath of seventies arts and crafts.  The Queen Bee got Princess Chuck her first job as a dishwasher (the princess was not amused) and her second job as acid washing glassware in a lab (better suited to a princess named Chuck).  The Queen Bee bought Princess Chuck her first grown up hat, made her go to a fancy salon (awkward) and introduced her to Loeman's at the height of big eighties fashion.   Together they drove trucks, didn't get stuck in the mud (barely), went four wheeling, looked for rocks and flowers and had adventures.

All in all the Queen Bee is amazing.  She graduated from college in three years with honors.  She got a masters degree in geology and became an exploration geologist before there were many women in that field.  She is good at finding oil.  She walked into the petroleum club like women had always been there. This tiny little lady with the long blond hair would smoke cigars and drink whiskey with the boys (even though I doubt she ever liked whiskey or cigars).   She got another master's degree.  She and her husband started  breweries in their back yard and up the mountain and down the street and in Nepal.  Because of course you need to have a brewery in Nepal.  She takes people in and helps them on their way.  She will wear silly shoes because her friend wants her to and she will travel a long way because she is needed.  The Queen Bee is truly brave and bold. 

This wee quilt hearkens back to one of those arts and crafts projects that the Queen Bee and Princess Chuck did sitting at a table made from slab wood under a tarp in a forest of aspen.  They made mosaics on old boards using sticks and stones and pocket knives and glue.  The Queen Bee made an award winning picture of the Crystal Mill which is the focus of this quilt.  Princess Chuck made a picture of  hole in the ground mining entrance.

The picture of the Crystal Mill was printed on fabric.  It is lightly embroidered with embroidery floss.  The flowers are vague representations of alpine forget-me-knots.  It is bound with quilter's cotton.  I finally remembered that I could to do the embroidery through the batting before adding the backing so this one is a wee bit neater than the previous two.  It is just shy of 7 x 9 inches.

This quilt was made in response to Project Quilting Season 9, challenge 3: Bold and Brave. 

Edit:  I should probably add that my sister has been referred to as the queen for many years.  I give her crowns and queen bees whenever I find them.  I'm not really a princess but I did answer to Chuck for most of my childhood.