Creative challenges...why oh why?

Ok, so I thought I was a better quilter than I am and decided about 6 months ago to enter a quilt in the Quilting Natural Florida II (QACDG.org) Spring 2010 exhibit. A picture of the quilt is due to them on October 1st....nothing like waiting until the last minute, is there? Anyway, I was born in Florida and my husband and I visited in Spring 2008 where I took some interesting pictures. Here's one from a hiking trail at Fort DeSoto Park:



When I came upon this scene, it looked like a fire had destroyed a bunch of palm trees. When I got home, I found out that the park regularly does this to keep the palm tree population to a minimum. What struck me about this picture was the contrast between the blackened tree trunks and the vivid green new growth from those charred trunks. Here's my Phase I interpretation of that photo:

The green crocodile batik on the left hand side will be the border for this quilt. I still have a long way to go with thread painting and other artsy techniques for making it look more like the quilt in my head. If I could start over again, I'd have done a lot of thread painting on the sandy area in the lower part of the quilt....hindsight (oopsy). So, I'll just have to do the best I can with what I have and go from there. If it doesn't get ruined while I'm thread painting, I'll send the picture and hope for the best. If it does....well then I've already learned alot. Your suggestions for saving this creative mess (I mean challenge) are welcome.