Thank y'all for the suggestions - I didn't ruin the fabric or plow through only to make a quilt I don't like, I just opened up a plethora of alternate design choices! Yeah, almost like I planned it all along. ::cough::
Bearisgray: Kaffe isn't a designer I buy for stash (Tula Pink either) - I like some of their fabric designs and love the bright colors but prefer to use one or two prints with a ton of solids to corral the chaos. A little goes a long way.
I was gifted a layer cake and thought I'd give a large flying geese block a try. Going through the process at least showed me where I need to make changes. Looking at images in the gallery and elsewhere on the web, I am much more drawn to controlled scrappy - a few tweaks (and not trying to use all 40+ geese in one quilt) might make this something I want to keep. : )
FelineFanatic & Sewbizgirl: Of the ones in the picture I pulled out all the odd number geese units and only kept the ones that had two units of the same solid. That toned it down a bit. Plus they can be reassembled in the same direction (or a common configuration like Dutchman's Puzzle using 8 geese units).
TeresaA: Separating the blue solids from the red/orange solids is an option I should lay out on the design board.
Tallchick & Iceblossom: turning them back into hst units or putting the busy fabric in the center opens up a bunch of design choices.
I think some sort of sashing will help it even more - the suggestion to put some smaller blocks throughout the quilt would also give the eye something to focus upon.
Y'all have given me much to ponder. After all, I have either 80+ hst blocks, or 40+ flying geese blocks, or some combo of each (sampler?). As mentioned above, a little goes a long way. These might show up in many, many future quilts. : )
I am glad I tried something scrappier than my norm. But, I'm also glad I can take it apart. Ha!
Thanks for sharing your expertise!