Judith Baker Montano is one of the stars of real crazy quilting and her books--probably in your library--have excellent directions on piecing a block. There are several tutorials online, might just Google "How to make crazy quilt block." I usually start with the muslin foundation and a five-sided center piece. I like to work with the fancy fabrics and embellishments, but you can use cottons and forget the lace and other embellishments. Here is one good instruction site.---
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art23942.asp