I see Louisiana in there, yes. Kind of boot-like, maybe from the elephant and his heaviness. Might even pass for Alabama on a foggy day.

Regarding how these are made, yeah basically you have it down right. The most important part is the symmetry because if that's overlooked, the shape just won't tessellate. There's maths involved, maths I'm not quite qualified to explain at the moment. You know, I was considering making a post that describes how to make tessellations (there's more than one way to tessellate a cat) for those interested in learning. It's pretty simple once the process is understood, and surprisingly fun once you're in the groove.

Ah, anca3drandom, it's been a moment since I've looked at her work, thanks for mentioning her :]