Quilt in Progress

I've been working on a new quilt this month. I was inspired by a pillow sham my mother-in-law sent as well as some pirate motif fabrics my sister gave me - both with my "piratologist" husband in mind.
It took a while for me to come up with the right pattern and I finally found one in a Debbie Mumm book which has a nice masculine and "Sou'western" flavor. I didn't want the quilt to come off too juvenile and the colors of the pirate motif fabrics are a bit loud, so I chose the maroons and browns and beiges to tone the overall look down into something more restful for the eye.
This is a snapshot of the three different blocks used arranged int the proper order. It's funny how you can't see the forrest for the trees when you are working on individual blocks. It wasn't until I arranged these on my design wall and then viewed them through the camera lens that I really saw the pattern.

Turkey Tail Fungi

It's 47 degrees this February morning and I finally went for my mile lap around the neighborhood for the first time in months.
Along the bike path I came across this interesting thing on the ground. It's hard to tell without a reference, but it is about 10 inches in diameter. It is a tree stump onto which a fungi know as "Turkey Tail" has thoroughly and completely covered. This fungi is like the cleanup commitee as it feeds off of decomposing trees.
I think it's fascinating the way it grows around and around. It's almost pretty - like a wooden flower - or maybe I'm just desperate for any sign of spring.
At least there's bare ground - that's some hope anyway.