Matthias's wall hanging

At last I can show the wall hanging that I made for our third great-nephew, Matthias (pronounced the French way as his mother is half-French).  Matthias was born at the end of May.  I decided to make him a wall hanging rather than a cot quilt as they are living in Los Angeles and I thought something that could be easily carried in a suitcase would be a good idea.  My sister and her husband (the paternal grandparents) went to LA last week so now I can show it on here.  I didn't want to reveal it earlier in case my nephew and his wife read the blog!

The design is taken from 'A Quilters Ark' by Margaret Wolfe.  This is quite an old book but I have used it a lot.  On this occasion I chose animals of the world because both sides of the family have lived abroad a good deal.  My nephew was born in Egypt (hence the camel) and the family also lived in other parts of Africa.  There are a couple of North American animals and a koala because his mother has family in Australia.  It is foundation pieced and I have to admit I bottled out of trying to create a kiwi as this is a technique I find useful but do not particularly enjoy.

Last year I made the baby next door one of these hangings but with farmyard and domestic animals.

I had to give my sister instructions on how to hang it so we were pleased to get an e-mail yesterday showing the hanging correctly hung!  Now I am wondering whether to make one for my hairdresser who is expecting a baby in the New Year.  I have realised I can make a smaller one, either two by two blocks or three in a vertical row.  In the meantime I plan to get back to map quilts, having got an idea for a second one in my head.