I have found these small spring loaded scissors by Fiscars. They seem to be less hard on my hands. Whatever size you make your blocks, your batting layer should be one inch smaller. So if you want your blocks to finish at 7", cut fabric 8" and batting layer 7". Center your batting layer on the back piece, then add top piece. Sew on the diagnol from corner to corner creating an X. When sewing the pieces together, use a half inch. When cutting, I cut closer than half inch, more like 1/4" but it up to you. Just make sure you do not cut your seams, or it will fall apart with first washing. Although I have never seen a raggy quilt made out of cotton, I did make raggy jackets out of brushed homespuns. Regular cotton will not fray as much so won't give you that soft raggy look. For the baby quilts I made using the process described above, I used flannels.
One word of caution, you will need to clean your lint filter every few minutes, or do what I do and take to laudrymat for the drying process. If you chose to dry at home, check your filter every 10 minutes. The build up of lint in the dryer trap will inhibit the drying process and is potentially harmful to your dryer.
This is really an easy project, so enjoy the process. Be sure to post a picture, so we can all see. :D