Join me in kicking off the West Austin Studio Tour at Due WEST on May 11! My artwork will be featured, along with the work of nearly 300 other local artists. Tickets on sale now: west.bigmedium.org/duewest.html  The 4 images above are pieces you'll see at the Group Exhibition Due West at the Dougherty Arts Center in Austin on Thursday May 11th, from 7 - 10 p.m. Clockwise from bottom left: sculpture by Judith Simonds, encaustic painting by Annie Darling, floral painting by Denise Jaunsem and textile pillow art by myself, Deborah Main. To view

[caption id="attachment_13080" align="alignnone" width="584"] A few of the hundreds of vintage French trims, ribbon and brooches I have in my collection to create textile art pieces for you.[/caption] Are you sitting down?  Okay, here's the news: This week's Texture Tuesday is going to be brief. I know that's hard to imagine, since my blog posts are basically short novellas, but I'm going to try for a few weeks to see if I can keep Texture Tuesday shorter.

Happy Texture Tuesday!  With all that's going on in our country and the world, I thought I'd give your mind (and mine) a break with this week's Texture Tuesday.  I feature three textile art pillows I've submitted to apply for art exhibitions. Some exhibitions your work gets accepted, and others it doesn't. I'm currently waiting to hear back from two. I thought you might enjoy seeing the creative process that goes on behind the scenes in the Deborah Main Designs studio for each art piece I handcraft.

Remember last week I said it was Tradeshow Season with Color and Texture On Trend?  Well, Las Vegas Market is wrapping up, and since I'm not there, and had no time to share all my wonderful photos from that AMAZING whirlwind trip last year, this week's Texture Tuesday is dedicated to:

It's Tradeshow season and the hottest trends are color and texture! How perfect for Deborah Main Designs since color and texture are the hallmark of my work. This week's Texture Tuesday features luxury silk pillows from my Essential Decorative Series. If you are a wholesale or interior design buyer, please stop by Peninsula Home showroom (WTC-525) at the Dallas Home & Gift Market today through January 24th to shop for my designs and their amazing home furnishings.

[caption id="attachment_12539" align="alignnone" width="584"]Friends, Vintage French trim, textile pillow art, vintage designer scarf pillows, Kumi Jewelry (by my daughter Qin) & more! Friends, Vintage French trim, textile pillow art, vintage designer scarf pillows, Kumi Jewelry (by my daughter Qin) & more![/caption]

Cozy fire and hot toddies await you this Saturday at my EXTENDED Holiday Open Studio & Sample Sale, 12 - 7 p.m. I know....I know...you Northerners are looking at us as woosies, but anything below 60 and I've got a scarf on...seriously!!  Here I am going out last night to a couple local events with my new black Lambsy knitted by fashion designer Kristine Rodriguez of RESPONSIVE TEXTILES. And my neck surely stayed warm!

[caption id="attachment_12540" align="alignnone" width="584"]Me snuggled into my Lambsy Muff knitted by RESPONSIVE TEXTILES. Me snuggled into my Lambsy Muff knitted by RESPONSIVE TEXTILES.[/caption]

THANK YOU to

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Look at all those shopping bags my friend Leslie Hyland Rogers is dashing out the door with!  Leslie, founder of Symphony of Soul, and countless other new and old friends, made my first Holiday Open Studio & Sample Sale such a success that I've extended it to four more times in December.  I haven't had an Open Studio since 2011, and I think it will now be an annual or semi-annual affair.

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[caption id="attachment_12451" align="alignnone" width="584"]This photo was taken by JD Walker, owner of Flowers & Found Objects, our newest store in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He has a beautiful display of our Ornamental Charm Series. This photo was taken by JD Walker, owner of Flowers & Found Objects, our newest store in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He has a beautiful display of our one-of-a-kind Ornamental Charm Series.[/caption]

This week's Texture Tuesday (no new post this Friday) is about my studio as I'm busy preparing for my Holiday Open Studio & Sample Sale and YOU are invited!  I'd love to see you, celebrate the holidays together, and show you where I create my artwork.

Texture and color are everywhere in my tiny South Austin studio. So much that I need to do a bit of culling. It seems you CAN have too much of a good thing. Especially when you're a collector, or in more primal terms, as some south Austin stitchers like to say, a "fabric junkie".

I confess. I have A LOT of stuff!!! (But I am not a hoarder, so don't judge) :-)

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What a whirlwind of an amazing Austin City Limits Festival!! How awesome was it to hear all that live music and come back to a cozy South Austin bungalow, high on a bluff above the crowds, nestled in the quiet, relaxing Zilker neighborhood. With tranquility awaiting you on a patio under a massive Shumard Red Oak tree and in a bright, contemporary guest room, what more could you ask for?

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Happy #TextureTuesday!  Today you get two chances to guess what this little squirrel sculpture, and other animals, are made of.  The above adorable squirrel looks like it's crafted from looped yarn to me, don't you think? Not. Keep trying to guess with my clues. Have you got it yet?

[caption id="attachment_11145" align="alignnone" width="1024"]PicMonkey Collagelarger Photography by, and with permission from, Responsive Textiles and BLANCO.[/caption]

With New York Fashion Week upon us, it's exciting to see what the hottest trends will be for 2017. When it's high fashion time on the runway, we can usually predict in the home furnishing industry that this year's runway styles will make its way into home decor by the following year.

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Well, I haven't looked at the news today, but so far, I've not been able to do Friday's Flowers & Trim for 3 weeks now due to terrorists attacks. I'm praying there was not one today (as I have some happy and sad news to share on the creative front) and my thought's continue to be with all those families whose lives have changed forever.

So, today I'm trying to get back to some normalcy with my weekly summer posts.  This Friday's Flowers & Trim is RED!!  And there's an extra special reason why it's RED.