I've made both and I can attest to the fact that making a duvet cover is much simpler. Bonus points to the duvet cover because you can remove it to wash easily and make more than one to change the look of the bed. Easy to sew with flat bed sheets and close with velcro. For making one from scratch you can use polyester batting that you buy at a place like Joanne fabrics or a blanket (use more than one layer for a richer look). You will then have to attach all the layers to keep the comforter intact. The hard way is to hand stitch a beautiful pattern like you see on handmade quilts - this is challenging to do well. A slighter easier method is to use a sewing machine to sew the layers together similar to what you see on commercially available quilts. Last you can take small single prick stitches to keep the layers together - I can't remember what these are called but they can create a really pretty look if done well. Sky

I second Kathi's advice. I've made roman shades from the Sewing for the Home directions and it was easy, the hardest part was screwing the bracket into the window to mount the shade. For my sewing room I used a cream and pale brown ticking with a darker brown and blue toile valance and it looks great. Has anyone made the insulated roman shade? I have a drafty bay in the LR that I would like to make insulated romans for but I haven't been able to find the liner material. Thanks!

Does anyone find it hard to search for a sink on the Internet? I need a specific width, and many of the sites don't let you narrow the search by size. I'll get 300 results, and I don't feel like opening each link to check the dimensions. I've tried faucetdirect.com, but are there others? Thanks!

edlincoln, All I can say is you'd just have to see it and then be the judge. I think people look at some view in front of them or picture a scene in their heads and think the one being described is like that. I can assure you, this particular case is not like that. There is no sense of privacy for one thing because you can see the little brick house behind the huge trunk and all the struggling foundation plants. I've seen houses nicely enshrouded in shade and trees making them impossible or hard to see from the street that look cool and inviting. Usually those trees are well chosen varieties and planted at a well thought out distance from the house as if someone actually planned it. This is not what I am describing. This is a problem of scale, a design disaster any way you try to excuse it, such as with remarks like "I love oaks". Seeing large limbs laying on roofs such as I often see is not my idea of nice either. Seeing large trees planted too close to structures is also a common sight as well as volunteer trash trees & underbrush left to grow amuck without any attempts at maintenance, a definite sign of neglect especially when the structures are showing problems as a result. Its called slum. I live in the inner city and I see lots of this. This Pin Oak has a very large limb banging away at the peak of the roof and a large mass of branches and leaves sitting right on top of it because the space is too small for such a tree which dominates the entire yard resulting in a One Plant only situation because there is no space or sun for anything else. There is no grass. The house looks dwarfed and the effect is ridiculous looking. But.......its an oak. Must be revered.