From the website “African American Quilting Traditions”
The textile traditions of African peoples are less thoroughly documented than other aspects of folk art such as music, dance, or speech. However what is known can be traced back to the prominent influences of four civilizations of Central and West Africa: the Mande-speaking peoples (in the modern countries of Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and Burkino Faso); the Yoruba and Fon peoples (in the Republic of Benin and Nigeria); the Ejagham peoples (in Nigeria and Cameroons); and the Kongo peoples (in Zaire and Angola). Wahlman, p. 21 As slaves, and also their textiles, were traded heavily throughout the Caribbean, Central America, and the Southern United States, the traditions of each distinct region became intermixed. Thus by the time that early African American quilting became a tradition in and of itself, it was already a combination of textile traditions. The segments that follow are an overview of the general themes and patterns of quilting that have been influenced by African aesthetic, religious, and cultural traditions.
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