Good Saturday afternoon from not-so-warm SE Texas. It's only 30 F. right now and the sun is shining brightly. It got down in the low 20's during the night. BRRR! I know it's nothing compared to what most of y'all are experiencing, but I admit it - I'm a weather wimp! ;) Maddie, congrats, girl, on being your skinniest! Now to modify your food to healthy! I know that you can do it because you've conquereed so many other things. Jan, that's quite a daily walk, and I'm so impressed. I'd also love that soup recipe. It's actually one I DON'T have. lol Suzanne, bless your heart - having walking pneumonia is no fun at all. I'm happy that your dh was home to take over though. What a blessing that was! Hope you're feeling much improved by now. Tikanis, about this time last year, my dh was told to give up caffeine because he was suffering from neuropathy. Well, he had us go cold turkey without telling me about it, and I had sick headaches for 3 days in a row and didn't know why. He had switched out our regular coffee for decaf which he makes every morning. On the 4th day, we had an early lunch where I ordered a Diet Coke, and after the first sip, I felt almost human again, and by the 2nd refill, I felt like a million bucks. Once I understood what was going on, I adjusted my coffee intake with half & half caf/decaf, and my headaches disappeared. I gradually cut out the caffeine slowly, and now I'm fine with decaf. I wish you well in weaning yourself from the cokes! Donna, I'm excited for you about your renovations. I'd love to see the photos, too. Congrats! Dee, how did the reviews go? It must be a nerve-wracking thing. Helen, I like it cooler than the temps we usually get around here - especially in the summer. And I agree that the Michelin man comment was hilarious! Raeanne, once long ago, my preacher gave an entire sermon on saying "NO". I only remember what I want to about it, but it stuck with me that the kindest thing you can do for yourself and for others sometimes is to turn things down if it can't be done with your whole heart involved. Now, when I try new things around here, I preface it to myself, and to the ones involved if it's necessary, that I want to make sure I'm the right person for the job or if I'd be good at whatever it is. I'm much improved now. I think it's been the huge change in the weather lately giving my sinuses fits. I don't have a headache today, TG! I'm going over to my friend's house this afternoon for a 'girls' day out' of movie-watching/knoshing/solving world problems. Susanne is hosting us and wants to fill her empty home with laughter and human warmth. It's a beautiful day to get together with all these great women friends I've been blessed with in the past 2 years. Wishing everyone a wonderful Saturday!

Thanks for your responses. It's a fun topic, isn't it! I should point out that there are scores of fabric manufacturers that were not represented here, so who knows how true my post is! But Beacon Hill, Stroheim, and many more that I saw are industry leaders. Oceanna--upholstery fabrics used to follow by a few years, but now its right on the heels of the clothing industry. BTW, I'm loving your cottage posts. mqmoi--Sorry I don't know how to find Sequoia by Richloom, but I'll but there is somebody here who can. tinker--I think the rust/spice colors are pretty neutral and easy to accent, as already stated; depends on how light or dark (saturated) you go. meg711--what happens where I am, is the distributor shows the newest fabric samples "to the trade", and these samples are constantly coming in; some stay longer than others. For someone like me, who goes maybe 3-4 times a year, the changes kind of jump out more than if I went weekly or daily like some clients. The new stuff filters down to retail showrooms almost immediately, where they are added to the samples that already exist, and their staying power can (and should) be a lot longer there--often for years. Sample books are almost immediately provided to the retailer as well. So you basically see the new stuff fast, but generally not on the same huge scale. In other words, there are no real surprises lurking in the background to blindside us; just general directions that get tweaked constantly. I was also thinking and wondering about browns when I left the place, because I didn't really notice browns. Maybe I just spaced it. Someone else may know the answer to that. At any rate, they didn't jump out at me, but I wasn't really looking. Syllabus--I agree about the greens. Some of them were very pretty though, by themselves. I think for traditional, country, cottage, shabby chic, etc. that sage green will always have a place; as well as any other color that you would find at, say, Williamsburg or other places of our heritage.

Thanks for the link My3Dogs! Looks like a great site and I will have to figure out what chairs I want to re-upholster so I can check their fabrics. I was looking for a specific Waverly fabric for my kitchen valances but they did not carry it there. I did find it though at FabricGuru.com for $6.95/yd plus they only charge $4.99 for shipping no matter how much you order. Its nice to know there are places to buy fabrics at a reasonable cost. I'm thinking about pulling out my 37 year old sewing machine and trying my hand at the valances. I bought enough fabric though that I can always turn it over to a professional if I really mess up! The fabric I ordered is Waverly's Rutherford Hill Merlot. I think it will pull together my colors in my kitchen and keep with the "Tuscan" look I am going for. Here is a link to my kitchen. I have saffron gold walls with Currant Jam (Burgundy) accents around the windows, butler pantry and in the powder room, plus my kitchen chairs have sage green seats and my adjoining sunroom is painted in light greens. Here is a link that might be useful: My Kitchen

OK. The top--I assume you are using a standard 5/8 inch cafe rod. To make a rod pocket top--Fold down the top. You will need a 1 inch pocket for the rod and if you want a ruffle on top you will have to allow for that too. No ruffle--fold the top down 1 1/2 inches turn under 1/2 inch and sew. I find it sews easier if you press and then sew. A ruffle on top can be any size you want it, from 1/2 inch to 3 inches, but not too much unless you have a fairly stiff material. When you make a ruffle on top, you have to sew 2 seams one on top of the rod casing and one below. EG: Using a 3/4 inch ruffle you would fold the top down 2 1/4 inches and sew. Then measure 3/4 inches from the top and sew another seam. The rod goes in the bottom casing. In my opinion they look better with a small ruffle. The hem on small curtains should be no less than 2 inches. I like to make mine about 3. If you decide to make a top--in your words the ruffly part do the same thing. You get the fullness of the ruffle and curtains from the width of your material.