Poison Bottle Block Inspiration

My friend Misty Cole has developed a super cool block-of-the-month pattern called Poison Bottle. It's so unique. It's inspired by actual vintage poison bottles and she includes bits of history and interesting facts on her blog. She asked me to create something with one of the blocks.

I started by reviewing the directions and studying the image of the design for the full quilt.  I also pulled out some fabrics I wanted to work with.



I traced the bottle pattern onto freezer paper, then transferred it to some pre-fused fabric.


Of course, I had to give Misty's pattern my own spin. But that's the beauty of this pattern. You could do so many different things with it. I was really intrigued by the arch at the top of the label on the bottle and I thought it would be interesting to explore extending that arch.  I also thought it would be interesting to set this bottle in a suggested-landscape.

Eventually, I settled on this basic design. I really love how the bottle is clear and simple, but weirdly integrated into the landscape.



I added a strip at the top and got everything fused.


Playing with the landscape idea, I embellished the label with these tall sprouts.


More hand embroidery, marking these circle with an air-soluable pen.


Oops. I got distracted and didn't take process photos of additional embroidery or the free motion quilting. But here is the finished small art quilt.


Elixer, 11 x 8 inches

Misty's pattern really did inspire me and I was thrilled to use it as a jumping off point. In reading the history of some of the bottles on her blog, it's interesting to think about how we medicate ourselves. What does it mean to be cured? Or to be poisoned?



Check out Misty's website Pick Your Brain Designs for other cool projects, programs and workshops.

Elixer is hanging out in my Etsy shop if you'd like to consider buying it to hang next to your medicine cabinet.