International Art Textile Festival to raise funds for cancer patients

The inauguration of the festival will be held in Castillo Bil Bil at 7pm on Friday 7 September, followed by an exhibition of amateur quilting and patchworking in the Parque La Paloma between 6pm and 9pm on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September.

The main exhibition will continue in the Bil Bil castle until Sunday 16 September and will include work exhibited by artists from Spain, Russia, Poland, France and the UK. These will include Ann Hill, the vice-president of the Scottish Quilters Association; Amparo Ruiz, delegate of the Spanish Association of Patchwork; and Anna Slawinska, owner of the first School of Patchwork in Poland.

All of the participating artists will be on hand to talk about their work and to offer advice on the secret of their techniques.

Charity prize raffle

This colourful festival will be used to promote the art of patchworking while raising money for cancer sufferers. A fundraising raffle will include prizes of a silk quilt made by Lyubov Lezhanina, an artist from the Russian School of Master Patch Workers, plus an embroidered patchwork quilt made by the Lucky Quilters Association, a group formed by Oskana. There will also be a 1,000-euro-voucher donated by the Benalmádena-based Vithas Xanit Hospital. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Cudeca Hospice. Winners of the raffle will be announced on Friday 14 September in the Castillo Bil-Bil and will be published on the official website of the Cudeca Foundation.

There will also be an exhibition of colourful heart-shaped cushions that help in the rehabilitation of women who have undergone surgery to remove breast cancer. The cushions, which were made by a group of women of 20 nationalities, will be donated to the Kölner Herzkissen e.V. Association in Köln, Germany.

"The festival is designed to create a mutual understanding of both amateur and professional quilters. People can admire their colourful creations while raising money for, and awareness of, those who suffer with cancer," organiser, Oksana Mader, explained to SUR in English.

The festival, which is free, can be visited Monday to Friday between the hours of 10am until 1pm and from 5pm until 9pm.