This is my version of the Ararat quilt block designed by Eveline Foland and published in the Kansas City Star in the 1930s. She said that the Ararat design was made to honor an elephant named "Ararat" that had just been acquired by the local zoo.
Readers of the newspaper interpreted the design as a representation of the symbol of the Republican Party, the elephant. That was not the intention. Soon, other readers were demanding that their political party be honored in the same way with a donkey design. A few days later, Eveline published the pattern for "Giddap, the Democratic Donkey," just to keep her readers happy!
The design for the Ararat block is available today via various companies and had also been published in The Quilter magazine in a pattern by Lucy Fazely. My version of the block uses half-rectangle units which are much harder to piece than half-square triangles which are utilized in other patterns I have seen.
So, that is the scoop. "Ararat" was just a beloved elephant minding his own business until folks wanted to politicize him. What else is new?
Patricia L. Cummings
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