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“Evil travels in straight lines.” This idea, applied to the quilt, immediately drew my attention because though it’s not something I’ve come across in my own culture, it’s something I’ve come across in Chinese culture. It’s why traditional courtyard homes were built with a kind of stonework screen immediately inside the entrance, to stop the spirits flying into the home. Very curious about how common the idea is in American folk tradition?

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Oh, that’s fascinating! I had no idea that was part of Chinese culture as well. I read about this idea when I was researching quilting, and it’s part of the African American quilting tradition.

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Exhilarating! Good for Betty! Your research was spot on. I would never have guessed you weren’t a skater. Fantastic writing!

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Thank you so much, Liz! I have zero hand-eye coordination, so I’ve never been much for skating. 😂

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Skateboarding and a quilt! I wonder whether they'd been consuming intoxicants when they thought of that one. Or maybe they sort of pulled pieces of paper from a hat each with random things written on them.

Part of me reckons they thought no one would be able to pull it off. But if so, they were wrong, because you certainly did!

I was genuinely worried she was going to end up over that cliff...

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Thank you! I’ve wondered before if they use a random prompt generator or something, because I’ve gotten some bizarre ones.

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Aug 24Liked by Bridget Riley

Bridget, you did your homework before writing this story, and I would have needed to too. I think that's so necessary for writers when writing on a subject or topic they're not familiar with. Adds a little authenticity and reality. Thanks for sharing, enjoyed it. - Jim

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Thank you, Jim! I found some fascinating recordings of 1960s skateboarding competitions, which were super helpful.

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