Yes, I put the cording into the seam between the skirt and the top to the daybed. In fact I sewed it onto the skirt first to stabilize the pleats. The cording was a bright white but I died it with coffee to make it blend more with the material. It is also used around the edges of the bolster.
The solid pillows are the material that I cut off the drapes when I shortened them. The center pillow is backed with that material as I didn't have enough of the stripe. I really cheated on the pillows as I folded the material around them and did an open (but hemmed) edge to put the pillow into. That way I only had to sew two seams on each pillow.
Love the idea of putting two shirts together, Bookie. I have lots of logo shirts from all the Rallies we have gone to. I think I will cut around the logos to make quilt squares when we are done with traveling and make a quilt out of them. I think I could use the backs and sides of the shirts for plain squares and the logos squares for focal points. I don't know what else to do with them as we don't wear them much between rallies.