"Nereids" is a piece that Mary Pal made for an exhibition in Taiwan, the theme of which was water.

Mary's first thought when she heard of the exhibition's theme was, "Uh oh, I don't do water I do portraits." Upon reflection, she remembered she had received a gift of a mug with a woman on it whose head was coming out of the waves and Mary realized she could make that image in cheesecloth. And so, she began to make the waves out of cheesecloth and she sculpted the women's faces to fit into the waves and Nereids was born. The title of the quilt comes from Greek mythology where the Nereids are sea nymphs, who "often accompany Poseidon, the god of the sea, and can be friendly and helpful to sailors."