When I was a child I remember that when my grandmother made the bed in the morning, she placed a long and pretty strip of fabric something across the pillows. It covered the entire width of pillows and hung down the sides of the bed...

Do any of you recall seeing that done? And what were they called?

Since I am "vintage" myself, this was most likely an earlier fashion...

Gosh, no. But that sounds like something my grandmother would have done. She was raised in an orphan home where everything had to be just so. It sounds like something that would keep the pillows and their cases clean.

My mother had one of those that matched her bed cover. The whole bed unit was made by an interior decorator and consisted of the bed skirt, the bed cover and the cover for the pillows. I think it matched the drapes in the room. This was made in the late 70's. It was very formal but made making the bed very easy.

I found the following on a Ebay site....I think it answers the question fairly well.

"As you are searching on eBay, for a pillow sham, you come across, and auction that states.. “Lay Over Pillow Sham”, What is that? No it is NOT a pillow to use in an airport between flights. It is a pillow sham without a back. You just LAY the sham OVER the pillows.

F.Y.I.

Layover Shams were usually decorative, and done with the finest of Needlework.

Could be one large one to cover both pillows, or two separate shams, one for each pillow.

Probably part of a brides Wedding Trousseau, and part of a sheet set."

I think it might be called a pillow drape perhaps, I recall seeing one on my grandmothers bed

OK so my dang curiousity kicked in I found this on Ebay they called it a pillow scarf, I tried to find the shams but must not of put in the right wordings :(
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-2-HaNDMaDe-WHi...item23121b9ef7

That is funny you should bring this up. I just finished a quilt and when it was all done I looked up on my closet door and there was the last strip that was suppose to be on the quilt. I just finished it with a couple of borders and covered the pillows with it. Here is what I ended up with.

Instead of making the quilt bigger to tuck under and over the pillows, make the cover for the pillows separate. Done it with many of my quilts.

So there we have it! I think it's a terrific idea, and plan on using it on my beds now!

I use a fluffy white feather comforter on my own bed, and hate having a duvet over it. The duvet just gets tangled up and shifted around so badly, and I just don't like it. I figure I can wash my comforter when it needs it instead... I also dislike using pillowcases, cause they invariably put creases in my poor old cheeks and they stay there for most of the day. Soo.. my solution is using nice white cotton pillow covers that have zippers.

Works for me!

Sounds like a bed runner used at the top.

I have made a 'runner' or pillow sham to match a quilt I had made. I used the same pattern as the quilt and it does make the bed look neat and complete. I would add a picture if I knew how! ha ha