The no! quilt came about as a sort of accident. I had been attempting to make some lighthearted work that was supposed to be a break from the otherwise intense work that I do.somehow what began as a whimsical homoerotic design became the story of my abuse at the hands of another boy with whom I went to high school. It’s aa twin sized quilt that in many ways would have been appropriate for the bed that I slept on in hight school. I was bullied for being gay even before I came out of the closet at fifteen by one boy in particular who also forced me to do various things to gratify him while at the same time humiliating me. he could be very nice to me on occasion but I knew better than to trust him and my main objective where he was concerned was to avoid ever finding myself alone with him. eventually I stood up to him which was destined to cause problems for me. he was a popular jock and I was an ostracized fag. he was over six feet tall and I was not even five and a half feet tall. I don’t know what he weighed but he played football and was muscular. I was fit but weighed 115 pounds at the most at that time. I caused a fight by verbally humiliating him in front of a group of jocks. he would have as we said then, kicked my ass, but I ran and he caught up to me as I was headed up a flight of stairs. he grabbed me but somehow he ended up being the one who fell down the stairs for which I was expelled from high school. the no! quilt has the word no quilted into it in two places. the words are hard to see intentionally because although I said no and I asked for help I wasn’t listened to by him or by the adults who’s help I sought.