Toile prints: Women's capris by Wildlife Sportswear, $4.99 at Lazarus. Placemats, TJ Maxx, $3.99. Brunschwig & Fils toile cotton print Toile accordion file with 21 expandable sections, $60, Ballard Designs Fontaine toile comforter set $249.99-$299.99 and decorative pillows, $16.97-$22.97, at Stein Mart stores. | ZOOM |

        Long-ago artist Jean-Baptiste Huet (1745-1811) gets the credit for the original intricate drawings printed using copper sheets by the fabric manufacturer Royal Factory of Jouy, near Versailles, France. His early scenes — called camaieux (cameos) — became best sellers, and the factory hired more famous painters of the day, including Hippolyte le Bas, Jean-Louis Demarne and Horace Vernet, who incorporated nature, mythology and the Orient into their designs. The type of print eventually became known as toiles de Jouy (Jouy fabrics) and then, simply, toile.

        “Toile never seems to die,” interior designer Rodger Goldwire says. “People love it. It's had its ups and downs, but never drastic downs.”

        The resurgence started about two or three years ago with the renewed popularity of French furniture and designs, according to the owner of Rodger Goldwire Ltd. in Anderson Township.

        The simplicity and elegance of toile fabrics attract designers. “It can be played down and used in creating a country setting and a more casual look mixed with ginghams, or it can be used in a very elegant setting,” Mr. Goldwire says. “It used to be seen in mostly cotton or linen fabrics but now it's used in silks for a much more sophisticated look.”
       

Circus people are just folks
Father-son balloonists float above it all
The insatiable shopper
B.B. King's blues show a mostly mellow evening
So Many Roads not up to speed
Survey finds you are what you bring to college
On the Fridge
Get to it