Barbara Schutzgruber – Storyteller & Weaver

I’ve been the volunteer resident weaver at historic Cobblestone Farm in Ann Arbor, Michigan since 2015.

The age of our Union Loom has not been documented but by the wear & tear it could easily be 100 years old or even older. Union Loom Works produced rug looms from 1880-1940 and the basic design did not change during that time.

I enjoy weaving on the Union Loom – though at times she’s a bit quirky and temperamental. [See February 2016 blog post Weaving at Cobblestone Farm ]

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Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild member Susan McDowell has been working to get a loom she and her husband Steve acquired in 2021 back to “weave-ability” at another historic farm in the area – the Sutherland-Wilson Farmstead.

The farm has a number of outbuildings: carriage, ice, hog and pump houses, a wood shed and barn.

The barn has a variety of displays and this is where the loom is being assembled.

This is a countermarch loom which is much larger and more complicated than Cobblestone’s Union Loom. Countermarch looms are known for their clean, large shed created by harnesses moving up and down with each press of a treadle. They have great flexibility and can be used for rugs and heavier household items such as blankets and floor runners as well as finer fabrics for home decor and clothing.

Sue and Steve have had their work cut out for them. The loom had been in storage for 50 years and there is no manual to know if all the parts were even still there. It has a maker’s mark on the cross beam Made Oct 15, 1941 AJB and resembles a Cranbrook/Bexell loom but there have been modifications. Other AAFG guild members have been helping to figure out how to get all the parts to work.

Great progress has been made this summer
and Sue is getting ready to actually start weaving!

The Pittsfield Township Historical Society
hopes the loom will become a catalyst
for future demonstrations and related farm-based fiber skills
such as dyeing, spinning, and felting.