"Birds in the Air"

I'm thinking about making a scrappy "Birds in the Air" quilt, inspired
by a photo of one made around 1870. The blocks will be 6" or 9" and
the background fabric unbleached muslin.

I'm wondering if anyone has seen a different set for this block than
just rows of blocks in the same orientation. Since it's basically an
HST, there should be a lot of possibilities, but I'm having trouble
imagining which would be interesting and which would look disorganized
and a pain in the eyes. So I'm asking the group for opinions on what
would and wouldn't work. I'd be quite willing to include other blocks
or interior borders or other patterns.