Unique Textile Works for the Wonderful World of Water - Quilters Around the Globe Get Involved with the 2nd International Block Swap

Munich, Germany, July 12, 2014 --(PR.com)-- "Water - elixir of life and most important resource of our planet" was the motto for the 2nd International Block Swap 2013/14, a multinational and cross-cultural patchwork project, organized by the online magazine Quilt around the World.

“The United Nations declared 2013 as the ‘Year of International Water Cooperation.’ We used this appeal as an opportunity to invite interested quilters from around the world to give some personal thought to this important topic and express their creative ideas in textile patchwork motifs,” explained Jutta Hufnagel, managing director of Quilt around the World GmbH.

A total of 159 quilters from 20 countries responded to the call and translated their ideas into patchwork blocks featuring various water motifs that were exchanged within 19 internationally mixed teams. Among the participants were many Europeans and North Americans, but also quilters from Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, as well as from Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Japan and New Zealand. The youngest participant (11 years old) came from Austria, the oldest quilters (as far as is known) with 80 years came from the USA and Germany. Several family teams and quilt groups and even two school classes designed wonderful water blocks for the IBS2 as their annual classroom project.

"We were very impressed by the wealth of ideas, the variety of motifs and the associated messages of our participants. This project clearly shows that the issue of water affects people around the world and states how much we all wish to live in a world with healthy natural aquatic ecosystems,” Hufnagel continued.

The Block Swap was a non-profit project without any commercial purpose. Only for the return shipment of the swapped block packages a small participation fee for packaging and postage was charged. All monies left over, a total of 1,000 Euros, was donated to Living Lakes (www.globalnature.org), an international network with more than 100 members on five continents striving for the effective protection of the most important lake areas, wetlands and other freshwater bodies of the world.

Additionally, numerous prizes with useful quilting supplies were raffled off among all participants. These prizes were generously donated for this project by the international sponsors Aurifil (Italy), Oakshott Fabrics (UK), Stof A / S (Denmark), abc concepts and Quilt around the World GmbH (both Germany).

Starting in spring 2015, selected water quilts designed by IBS2 participants and the large community quilt “Water for the World,” consisting of about 25 individual modules, will be presented at various quilt festivals in Europe and the USA.

Photos of all participating water blocks and already finished quilts are shown in the IBS2 gallery on the Quilt around the World website (www.quilt-around-the-world.com).

About Quilt around the World
Quilt around the World GmbH, headquartered in Munich, was founded in 2010 and provides an innovative, interactive and international online magazine for patchwork and quilting. At www.quilt-around-the-world.com quilters and other textile enthusiasts find comprehensive and well-structured information about quilting, patchwork and other forms of textile arts & crafts. Included are comprehensive tutorials, interviews, book- and product reviews, travel reports to textile destinations and a global event directory. All articles are available in both German and English.