With the turn of a New Year marking Imani (faith) and the last day of Kwanzaa, what better design to honor with the ‘Fabric of the Week’ award than our very own festive Kwanzaa Patchwork print!
Founded by Maulana Karenga in 1965, this cultural holiday was created to reinforce traditional African American values like community, spirituality and kinship. Stemming from the Swahili phrase ‘mantunda yo kwanza’, the name means simply ‘first fruits’ or the ‘fruits of the harvest’. Kwanzaa is a non-political, non-religious holiday uniting those with African roots in America.
Celebrated from December 26th until January 1st, Kwanzaa festivities revolve around seven principles (nguzo saba) that are the foundation of a strong community. These include:
Umoja (unity)
Kujichagulia (self-determination) 
Ujima (collective work and responsibility)
Ujamaa (cooperative economics)
Nia (purpose)
Kuumba (creativity)
Imani.(faith)
Printed on an extra wide 60” cotton, our Kwanzaa Patchwork is a great fabric to use for table dressings, curtains, fabric gift wraps, book covers and more. The images include: a Kwanzaa mat (mkeka) symbol of history and tradition, corn ears (vibunzi) symbolic of the number of children in each celebrating household, seven candles (misumaa saba) represent the Nguzo Saba in the African Liberation Flag colors of red, black and green, and the Unity cup (kikomba cha umoja) used to pour homage to those that have passed on.
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