Midwest Weaving

About Me

My name is Mary Unger and I am a weaver and fiber artist based in Wisconsin. I use natural materials to craft handmade textiles for everyday use.

Originally from Evanston (IL), I have been weaving for over six years and quilting for more than twenty. I also embroider, crochet, and enjoy other needlework arts and crafts.

I am a member of Wisconsin Craft, Art MidWisconsin, the Wisconsin Handweavers Guild, the Midwest Weavers Association, and the Weavers Guild of the North Shore. When I am not weaving or quilting, I teach American literature and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at a small liberal arts college in Wisconsin.

My Work

I enjoy weaving items for everyday use. I make home goods (hand towels, blankets, coasters, table runners, dinner napkins, handkerchiefs), wearables (scarves, wraps, and shawls), as well as home decor (framed motifs, wall hangings, and large scale tapestries). I use traditional weaving methods on a variety of looms—both multi-shaft and rigid heddle—in my home studio in Oshkosh (WI).

While I enjoy exploring a variety of weave structures and techniques, I am partial to overshot. I do most of my weaving on my 1940s-era four-shaft Leclerc floor loom, and a more recent Ashford four-shaft table loom. I also regularly weave on my Ashford rigid heddle.

I work mostly in muted or neutral colors and exclusively in natural fibers (cotton, linen, wool, silk, bamboo, and alpaca), and source my yarn from local and/or small businesses.

I grew up in and currently reside in the Midwest, a region of the country whose unassuming beauty—from the dense heaviness of the summers to the stark cold of the winters—inspires both the colors and textures of my weaving.