August, 1918 
35 
accompanying photograph. Use linen edged 
with a knotted fringe. A Marseilles spread 
decorated with the same fringe, allowed to 
reach the floor makes the white linen flounce 
unnecessary. The flounce, however, is most 
important as nothing else so completes the fur¬ 
nishing of the bed. When it is in place, any 
of a variety of coverlets may be used; as the 
discrepancy between cover and floor is met in 
a dignified manner. 
Flounces and Their Styles 
In the days of yore the flouncing was really 
hand-made in the truest sense of the words, for 
the material was hand-spun, hand-woven and 
then embroidered. The valance at the top at¬ 
tached to the frame that connected the four 
posts was of like material and frequently the 
window curtains matched — truly an heroic 
task. The bed curtains were looped and tied 
to the posts during the day and all edges were 
trimmed with deep fringe, hand-knotted in 
intricate patterns. 
The mountaineers of Tennessee and Ken¬ 
tucky are today reproducing the Colonial pat¬ 
terns of hand-knotted fringe. New patterns 
are also introduced by them. Real or imita¬ 
tion lace or a very fine crochet lace in filet pat¬ 
tern are used in place of the fringe. 
If one wishes to keep the bed all white, 
Marseilles spreads may be purchased with a 
scalloped edge or fringed. These are cleverly 
cut to accommodate the posts so that they hang 
neatly over the edge of the bed. Bolsters are 
preferred to pillows and when accompanied by 
a boudoir pillow or two, a satin-covered lamb’s 
wool quilt or any other that the mind dictates 
and the purse allows, the effect leaves nothing 
to be desired. Still, when there is substituted 
a handsome old hand-crocheted or knotted 
woolen coverlet neatly folded at the foot of the 
bed, a patch work quilt, one finds the result 
much more in keeping with the Colonial room. 
A fine example of a Colonial bed chamber is 
found above. The old-fashioned poppy wal, 
paper has been duplicated in the cretonne. 
A patchwork quilt and rag rug are in keeping 
1 
In the chamber below a tent-top four-poster 
is covered with linen edged with crocheted 
lace. A Marseilles spread covers the bed and 
a crocheted coverlet is folded at the foot 
Using Cretonne 
To substitute the hand-spun and woven 
linen of yesterday, embroidered in quaint de¬ 
sign, the housewife of today selects a cretonne 
of brilliant coloring or a chintz of pastel tones 
with valance and head curtains edged with a 
narrow fringe of a vivid color. Curtains of 
this description are lined with a creamy white 
satine. The bed flouncing may be made of the 
flowered material or of plain white linen, or 
eliminated altogether. If expense is no object 
(Continued on page 54) 
Cretonne valance and head curtains in this four- 
poster are trimmed with a vivid banding and lined 
with a cream colored satine. Crochet lace of a hand¬ 
some pattern edges the spread 
