The city of New York is a magical place. It functions as a capital for art, fashion, theater, publishing and finance -- endeavors that rely on the fact that what appears to be real is often not. To illustrate this, I have borrowed the image of a trompe l'oeil painting by John Frederick Peto (1854-1907), which was featured on a 1974 postage stamp. This painting depicts a letter rack -- a catchall for fragments of daily life. I have assembled patchwork in similar fashion to capture the texture of New York City. This quilt is also intended to pay homage to Florence Peto (1884-1970), a quilt maker, collector and historian, who in 1939 published Historic Quilts in New York City.