Patchwork Elephant

I made this elephant a couple of months ago, using a pattern from Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson.  Joelle and her sister are the owners of Purl Soho.

I used just three fabrics - one for most of the body, then contrasting ones for the ears and belly.  The focus fabric has a patchwork feel to it with the faux stitching lines.  I made the eyes from tiny pieces of leather.

Elephant meets tiny pig on chair, and wants to wag his elephant tail.

This elephant has a disproportionately large head, but that's OK because elephants are one of the smartest animals in existence.

Anecdotes about the elephant's extraordinary intelligence are supported by science.  MRI scans of an elephant's brain (how did they do that?!?!) show a large hippocampus which in humans is linked to memory and emotions.  Their brain also has a lot of spindle cells, associated with self-awareness, empathy, and social awareness in humans.  Elephants are one of the few living beings (along with humans, dolphins, and some great apes) that recognize themselves in a mirror.

Elephants in Amboseli National Park in Kenya are sometimes speared and/or killed by Maasi and Kamba men in disputes over scarce water.  The Maasi are more aggressive than the Kamba, and according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, elephants are able to distinguish between the two languages.  Hearing recordings of the Maasi men, the elephants are twice as likely to retreat and gather together.  Voices of women and young boys (neither of whom do the attacking) do not have the same effect.