I asked neighbors to suggest ways to keep a comforter in place in a duvet. Many people explained how to get the comforter into the duvet, which was not the problem. Also, I discovered, after some follow-up with some people, that the problem is not in the corners staying put... it's the edge closest to the head of the bed that's a problem. I tend to grab the duvet when I pull up the covers and lose what's inside... and end up with my shoulders covered with the duvet only - no stuffing! Some of these suggestions helped me out. It's amazing, too, what we can find on the web these days!

Here are the responses I received:

• I keep safety pins in the corners. Turn it inside out when you put it in and secure it then. No one will ever notice.

• How about sewing snaps in the corners of the duvet and comforter? It would keep it in place and be easy to unfasten for cleaning.

• I haven't done this myself (yet), but you could sew a loop at each corner of the duvet, and sew a small strip of fabric inside each corner of the cover, with a snap at each end of the fabric strips. Then insert the fabric through the loop and snap the ends together. (I hope that description makes sense!)

• initially i used safety pins, but then i discovered it really doesn't shift.

• I'd tack it in with a few stitches at each corner. Plan B would be a safety pin at each corner. Plan C would be to sew Velcro inside the corners of the cover and on each corner of the duvet.

• If you don't want to sew at all, try using a large (around 1 inch) safety pin in each corner to secure the fabric in the corner of the duvet to the inside of the cover. I've done this with a king sized cover and had good luck. I've never felt the safety pins, and the cover is easily unpinned for washing.

• As a quilter, I've had lots of experience with duvets - it's much easier to make a duvet than a full quilt. I rarely have problems with the blanket/comforter inside the duvet, largely because the part of the assembly that get used or moved a lot is actually the top edge and the center. For the most part, the corners stay put once you've wrestled the blanket inside the duvet. However one way to keep the blanket in place is to sew a couple of buttons on the blanket and put corresponding buttonholes in the duvet. Another way (tedious when removing the duvet for washing) is to attach some Velcro strips at the corners inside the duvet and put the corresponding halves on the corners of the blanket. The Velcro strips usually have an adhesive on the back so they can be applied easily.

• there are little clips & thingies you can get at bed bath & beyond. i have a set that looks like little circles with smaller circle that snaps inside the larger one. it's just a press-in so it doesn't harm either item. you unsnap them to wash the duvet. there are other kinds at other stores, too.

• Being from Europe I have always use duvet covers and if they are the correct size the comforter they stay in place. There is a trick in getting them in correcty. I try to describe: Reverse the cover by grabing the two edges from (what will be the outside) inside. Now grap the two tips of the comforter and shake the cover over it. Now those 2 tips/edges are firmly in place. Now Tug the other edges/tips ... If the instructions are not udnerstandable I can show you.

• You can buy sheet clips at either JoAnn or BB&B. They're elastic, and have ends that function much like the clips on garter belts used to. Cut a sheet clip so you have 2 pieces, and sew into the corners of your duvet cover (on the inside). You can then connect the clips to the duvet and it stays in place. I've done the above with much success.

• I use the technique my French family uses: sew a piece of binding tape into the inside corners of the duvet cover (many newer covers have the strings in place already). Then either tie them around the corners of the duvet (more traditional) or also sew a piece across the corners of the duvet itself and tie them through the corner piece. I'd be happy to show you what I'm talking about on my duvets; it'd only take a minute for what I'm describing to make sense. Here are other options, most of which I've seen used http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf27527760.tip.html

• It shouldn't fall out when the person is in the bed, as it sort of molds itself around the sleeper. The pins are in the duvet at the bottom of the bed. If the duvet is well shaken into place, it is prety secure.

• I'e been using duvets for 20+ years since my college years in England. Most of the time, the duvet just stays in place, no worries. I did buy a cover not too long ago that had strings attached on the inside corners of the cover. You take the strings (attached to the cover on the inside seams) and tie them to the ends of the duvet comforter, just a simple bow does the trick. I thought that was pretty cool. Pain though when you are ready to wash the cover.

• An easy way to put on a duvet cover (again, a tip from my days in the UK), is to keep the cover turned inside OUT before putting it on the duvet. Lay it flat against the comforter (I start this on my bed, all laid out), and then get your arms inside the cover, aiming for the top corners, grasp ahold of the cover and duvet with both hands, and standing up now, pull the whole thing back from inside out to right side out. It might sound tough, but it's pretty easy and I'm sure there is a YouTube video out there demonstrating it :-)