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An African Christmas

Quilt Africa Fabrics Challenges
September 23, 2023•2 min read

Introduction:

I cherish my memories of celebrating Christmas growing up in Nigeria.

The Christmas holiday season is the most important holiday and preparations start from the ‘ember’ months – September, October, November and pick up a few days before Christmas into the New Year. 

Businesses and city life shut down, as most families return to their ancestral villages laden with gifts of food, drinks and clothing for extended family members in the village. 

Mothers would have searched for and shopped for ‘Christmas outfits’ for every child in their immediate and extended families starting from October. The clothes would be left unworn until Christmas day. That meant about 3 months of excitement for us kids as we waited for the day we would be seen in our new clothes and shoes. 

If a child didn’t receive new clothes during the year, it was sure that they would receive something new for Christmas. 

The week of Christmas was a busy period filled with shopping for foodstuff and cooking to cater for the extended family and friends that will undoubtedly come around during the festivities and would need to be fed. 

 Christmas season in Africa symbolizes the importance of community and tradition, with family reunions filled with shared laughter and storytelling.  

The festive season is marked by traditional celebrations, including music, dance, delicious dishes, and creating a joyous atmosphere. Gift giving was different from the Western custom of receiving wishes and requests written on a list, our gifts consisted more of necessary items such as clothing and shoes or other basic requirements. Occasionally, in addition to these basics, we received bicycles, books and other coveted items. These gifts symbolized our parents' commitment to care for and provide for us. 

Kate Spain's "Joy" pattern was a natural choice for our African Christmas Challenge because it represents Christmas without leaning on the popular symbols of Christmas traditions – green & red colors, Santa Claus, the snowman, candy cane, holly, wreaths, pine trees are foreign to an African Christmas and would not have accurately expressed the tropical and more cultural African Christmas season. 

It centers more on the Joy of Christmas, celebrating the core values of Christmas - family, friends, cherished traditions, and heartfelt gatherings. 

 It evokes the warmth of togetherness, the happiness of meaningful gifts, and the majesty of the birth of Christ embodied in the carols sung with loved ones. 

I wanted to share an authentic Christmas in Africa which is about the thriving of our cultural heritage, the emphasis on family and fostering stronger communal ties, as well as the universal values of love, unity, and kindness. 

Kate Spain's "Joy" pattern reminds us to focus on Christmas's true essence, the Joy of the gift of Jesus to the world, the love of family and to spread joy and cheer to everyone around us. 

As an African who was not familiar with the process of modern day quilting, Miriam was fascinated with photos of the beautiful quilts displayed in Pinterest. This led her to take the plunge and create her first quilt in 2016, using online resources as there are no quilt shops in her country. As an architect, the creative process of quilting was familiar and she loved the fact that she could incorporate her culture. The process of creating that first quilt using the fabrics of her heritage led to the start of her business, Quilt Africa Fabrics. The scarcity of resources on quilting with African Fabrics was the deciding factor in birthing the African Fabrics Movement and launching the annual Quilt Africa Fabrics Online Show and the virtual Quilt Africa Fabrics Guild/BOM. She considers herself honored and blessed to be accepted by the quilting community. She views her business as a vehicle for introducing and supplying the beautiful, bold and exciting fabrics of Africa to quilters and textile artists the world over. Miriam lives in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria in Western Africa with her husband and 3 children who are very much a part of the African Fabrics Movement.

Miriam Galadima Benson

As an African who was not familiar with the process of modern day quilting, Miriam was fascinated with photos of the beautiful quilts displayed in Pinterest. This led her to take the plunge and create her first quilt in 2016, using online resources as there are no quilt shops in her country. As an architect, the creative process of quilting was familiar and she loved the fact that she could incorporate her culture. The process of creating that first quilt using the fabrics of her heritage led to the start of her business, Quilt Africa Fabrics. The scarcity of resources on quilting with African Fabrics was the deciding factor in birthing the African Fabrics Movement and launching the annual Quilt Africa Fabrics Online Show and the virtual Quilt Africa Fabrics Guild/BOM. She considers herself honored and blessed to be accepted by the quilting community. She views her business as a vehicle for introducing and supplying the beautiful, bold and exciting fabrics of Africa to quilters and textile artists the world over. Miriam lives in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria in Western Africa with her husband and 3 children who are very much a part of the African Fabrics Movement.

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