Margaret B. Windeknecht:
Marvelous New Collection at Michigan State University Museum
For all of us weavers and fiber artists, a wonderful event happened just a few weeks ago. Tom Windeknecht ,Margaret Windeknecht’s husband, has given a donation of Margaret’s work to the Michigan State University Museum. This donation represents a significant collection of Margaret’s art work and research that has now become a part of our Michigan Handweaving History collection at the museum. Included in the 
donation were:
five rugs; two batik wall hangings; two framed black/white/red weavings; a framed loom beading; six of Margaret’s miniatures: three beaded kimonos in peyote stitch, a diorama-like box of a room setting with woven accessories, two framed wedge weavings; two boxes of handwoven samples that represent Margaret’s research for Color-and-Weave; two other boxes of samples; and a box of her research papers.
This donation represents a cross section of Margaret’s work throughout her impressive artistic, research and writing career, and is a great resource for all of us today and for the future. Margaret was an outstanding Michigan weaver and teacher of national renown, gleaning more than fifty awards 
for her artwork. She was considered an authority in the Color and Weave technique, and in later years she was known for her work in miniatures. She was author of numerous publications and books, including the ground breaking Color-and-Weave and other listed below. Many of these are also available in DVDs.
Creative Monk’s Belt (Shuttle Craft Guild Monograph; No 30), 1977
Creative Overshot (Shuttle Craft Guild Monograph; No 31), 1978
Color-and-Weave, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981
Rosepath Motif: An Approach to Weaving Design, 1987
Point Twill with Color-and-Weave, 1990
The Pinwheel: An Exploration in Color-and-Weave Design, 1992
Color-and-Weave II, 1995
Tom also very generously donated the funds to purchase a museum-quality storage cabinet to house Margaret’s work and other pieces from the Michigan Handweaving History Collection, in the Cultural Collections Resource Center at MSU Museum.
Lynne Swanson (MSU Museum) and I will be holding an open house at the museum’s Cultural Collections Resource Center in the fall of 2011 to showcase not only Margaret’s collection, but the recent donation of the Alice Griswold Library Collection given by George Griswold. Additionally, we plan an exhibition of Margaret’s works with Michigan State University Museum in the near future.
Marie Gile
Historian, Michigan League of Handweavers
