About Antrim Handweaving

Margaret B. Russell is a handweaver with over 27 years of experience and a lifetime appreciation of this ancient art.  She grew up listening to tales of ancestral weavers, who brought their trade from County Antrim, Ireland, to her native upstate New York.  Margaret takes pride in her connection with these past artisans, and her handwoven pieces reflect a desire to preserve the tradition of those ancestors.

Several small and very select sources supply Margaret with the natural fibers for her weaving.  Her looms are dressed with these choice fibers, producing heritage pieces including tea towels and table runners, scarves and wraps.  She weaves on multi-shaft floor looms in her home studio in Byfield, part of the small coastal town of Newbury, in northeastern Massachusetts.  Handwoven pieces are sold at a limited number of juried artisan shows throughout the year.  Commissioned work is accepted.  Her handweaving workshops and classes are offered at conferences and area arts and fiber centers.  An extensive personal collection of her handwoven wraps from wools of British sheep breeds is displayed during presentations that promote preservation of primitive, rare, and threatened British breeds. Margaret is continually inspired to educate herself and others about the wonders of handwoven pieces from natural fibers.

Margaret was a recipient of the 2007 International Earth Day Award from the Earth Society Foundation. This award, presented during the 37th annual United Nations Peace Bell Ceremony, was in recognition of her exclusive use of natural fibers.

A contributing editor of Wild Fibers magazine, Margaret's column "Rare Thoughts" features rare and endangered fiber animals.

Member of Hudson-Mohawk Weavers’ Guild, Weavers’ Guild of Boston,  Handweavers Guild of America, Inc., American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Soay Sheep Society, UK and Rare Breeds Survival Trust, UK.

© 2008 Antrim Handweaving – all rights reserved