MARY MARGARET PETTWAY

Mary Margaret Pettway was born in 1963 in Gee’s Bend and taught to quilt by her mother, Lucy T. Pettway. Mary always looked up to her mother’s quilt work and by the time she was 11, made her first quilt under the close supervision of Lucy T. Mary went to college at the age of 17, began quilting again at 30 and has been quilting ever since. Mary loves to work with a mind toward the Gee’s Bend traditions, working with established pattern forms and making a departure into abstract design. Mary refers to abstract designs with the title of “My Way”. Mary’s design work gravitates toward structure and repeating patterns, what is often referred to in Gee’s Bend as, “Traditional Quilting”. Mary’s work is far from traditional in the literal sense as she pushes the boundaries of bold graphic patterns and complex color choices.