For now I am buying fabric for specific projects and since I am still new I buy at least 1/2 yard more then I think I am going to need. I am also saving scraps and woopses..
How do you know how much to buy if you do not know what you are going to make with it? Do you buy with a backup project?
Or do you know you can make something with it.

I seem to make lots of baby quilts that I tend to overbuy for. That got me started. I also buy yardage of stuff I just like and lots of fat quarters.

I was a clothing, craft and home deco before I began to quilt. (still am for gifts and my 3 year old niece, sarah. ) So I was used to having yardage ahead for those projects. And of course the left over yardage when I overbuy piles up.

Then my church gave me ten boxes of fabric and a lovely quilt frame when they were cleaning out the storage room. Then I got as much from a dear friend passing away. The lady next door moved here three years ago, and went through her stash and donated to the bulging closet too. :roll:

Now, I live up out of the city and it does snow enough that I don't want to try and drive down that hill during bad weather. So the stash continues to mount. I usually buy with something in mind. But, the nutrals are always needing to be replaced and it drives me crazy when I am doing something and there isn't the right blue (or whatever). That is when I started hoarding.
There it is ... out in the open..... I am a fabricaholic. And my name is sandy.

my name is Patrice. i, too, am a fabriholic. (believe it or not, there are more stacks of drawers than you see here. they just didn't fit into the pic.)

i inherited the disease from my mom. (she had an excuse. she was a professional coutourie and tailor. she also made all my clothes until i was old enough to help make all my clothes. i got my first grown-up sewing machine in kindergarten.)

i was on the wagon for a while. until i discovered quilting. AND a fabric department in the WalMart just around the corner. fell hard, my friends. very hard. very fast. when they remodeled, they sold off 75% of their stock, for less than half price, with the intent of closing the department. much ruckus was raised so it's still limping along, in much less space and with a smaller selection, two years later.

THEN i joined this board and found out you could buy fabric online. all i can say is ... that wagon is now 25 miles down the road and out of sight. :lol:

i've been known to buy whole bolts "just because" and with no idea what i'll do with it. it's madness, i tell you. madness!!!! :shock: :lol:

i admire people who can buy only for specific projects. or who can control themselves enough to buy just "that little just-in-case extra." i am resolved to downsize my mountain and to splurge less from now on.

when is the next meeting, please? let me know when it's my turn to bring snacks. :roll:

I've collected fabric for years, just not for quilting. When I began quilting, I've collected even more.LOL

I started with purchasing for specific projects, then noticed the "sale" bins and started adding markdown stuff "just becuase", then it was onto Ebay- again, specific needs first but then when I joined here and saw what a stash really meant. I knew I need to get serious and get some real stash. So I bought "fabric bundles" and "fat quarter bundles" on Ebay and going to the thrift store (I've found some fabric there) and yard sales. I think I'm finally comfortable with the amount of stash and now I'm working to reduce it.

I, too, am a fabriholic, it is terminal, there is no known cure but not life threatening. There are those of us who are still in denial, but when you come out of the closet, it feels so much better.

oh, and when you come out of the closet, be careful the stash doesn't fall out behind you!

PatriceJ
All I can say is wow. My stash is a laundry basket and a storage bin. Againg wow... my husband kill over..

Patrice,
OMG! I am amazed, it is like walking into a quilt shop. Love it.
I wanna be like you when I grow up :-)

P.S I just showed your phtot to my DH, and he said, well, it lookes like we should be shopping for house with two extra rooms, one owrking area and one storage for fabrics!LOL I said I love that!

I typically buy 1/2 yard more than I need for a project. I also collect fat quarters. I recently purchased a bunch of 1/2 yard cuts of civil war fabrics just because I love them! :)