Not too long ago I came to be in possession of what I consider to be the quintessential quilt— a New York Beauty or Rails through the Mountains from around 1860 to 1870. It represented everything I love about old quirky quilts— simple fabrics with bold color, a complicated pattern retaining its points, and gorgeous quilting. I listed it for a healthy price on eBay while secretly hoping it would be in my possession forever so I could take it to demonstrations, photograph my kids in front of it as they age, and generally swoon over it every time I passed through Studio A off my living room. After some minor repair and further study, I realized that the pattern was well suited to foundation piecing and I began to remember my dreams of publishing a line of patterns based off of the old quilts I’ve had the pleasure to handle.