Wilferg, I have that book and I did that same project when I first started quilting. I still didn't know how to sew a consistent seam, so the tiny quilt had major problems. I had very little stash, and it was poor quality. When the quilt was done I thought it was hideous, but now I think it's not so bad (except for the sewing quality). I've learned over the years to appreciate more color combinations, and now scrappy is my favorite type of quilt.
I think the secret to making a truly helter-skelter scrappy quilt is to not stress over whether one fabric "goes with" another. When they're all together, they will get along. If you look at just two together, they will fight. Make a deal with yourself that you're going to make "just one" quilt without thinking about whether two fabrics belong together, and pay attention only to value (if that's a part of your design). (And don't stress about whether a fabric is light or dark - if it's not obvious which one it is, then it can be used in either place, as long as most of the fabrics fall into the definitely dark or definitely light categories.)