Three by Three: Guest Artists in Focus
QUESTION 2. Animals are central to your work, often conveying personality and humor. What do you look for in an animal subject before deciding it’s right for translation into fabric and stitch?
ANSWER 2. I look for subjects that have personality, and I especially like those that have a prominent eye. I always start my piecing with the eye to bring out the personality right away.
Mary Pascoe
Textile Artist
MEDIUM: all cotton fabric, wool batting, and polyester thread
BIO: Mary Pascoe is a textile artist who lives and works in Palm Harbor, Florida. She learned to sew from her mother and has been fascinated by quilts for a long time. Over the years she has made several full sized and many baby quilts. She found her unique methods later in life after a career in health care and computer programming. A long-time lover of animals, quilts, and colorful fabrics, she was able to put those passions together to create her original art.
Mary knew that she wanted to combine quilting with art and to create pictures with colorful fabric, but she didn’t care for the usual ways of doing it. Everything “clicked'' in 2017 when she found inspiration in the work of several artists that she admired, including Danny Amazonas and Susan Carlson. That inspiration led her to create her own methods and designs.
Mary first finds the right animal or person photo as a guide to create her one-of-a-kind art. Starting with the eyes, she uses hand-cut cotton fabric pieces to “paint” her colorful quilt pictures. She then adds batting and a backing fabric and quilts around each piece to create the special texture of the finished quilt art.
Mary Pascoe’s Etsy shop includes quilted art as well as prints, mugs, and tote bags with her unique designs.
WEBSITE: MaryPascoeCreations
QUESTION 3. Your quilts balance detailed portrait-like elements with more abstract patterning. How do you decide where precision matters and where looseness adds energy?
ANSWER 3. Precision matters most when it comes to proportions (everything in the right place) and the facial features. I like to create realistic eyes and noses and add looseness and energy in the colors and shapes of the pieces.
QUESTION 1. You began with functional baby quilts and gradually moved into framed art quilts. What moment made you realize quilting could be a primary artistic language rather than just a craft?
ANSWER 1. Long ago I had a quilting book that included some quilted pictures. I was fascinated by the idea, but at that time I was not motivated to learn to do that kind of quilting. I did do some regular bed quilts and some baby quilts, but it wasn't until about 5 years ago that I became bored with that and decided to try making quilted pictures. I did some research in books and online and came up with my own unique methods to create the artistic style of textile art that I now do.
"Ally" 11/11/2025 Cotton Fabric; 36" x 28.5"
All copyright and reproduction rights are reserved by Mary Pascoe.
Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.
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"Great Blue Heron" ; 11/12/2023; Cotton Fabric; 43" x 27"
"Audrey"; 3/30/2024; Cotton Fabric; 29" x 27"