I never buy less than a yard.

if its on sale and no hubby around 5 yards :) if hubby around and tired of standing in the quilt shope for 2 hours then I smile and say 5 yards ITS ON SALE!! with a big smile on my face! lol lol lol poor guy.

I like to buy 2 or 3 yards. If it is something that yells buy me I will buy 5 or 6 yards.

I never buy less than a yard...I prefer to buy a minimum of 2. If it is a good sale I will get up to 5 yards :D:D:D

As your stash grows and the usable space in your house shrinks, you can start buying sparingly. Until then, at least a yard. If it has a directional pattern at least 2. If it has a large repeat, at least 2 repeats. For backing at least 5. if it's on sale, or the end of the bolt ...... oh, I wanna go fabric shopping now.

I usually buy 2 yards, unless I am sure it's for backing, then 3-6 yards (depending!!!), and sometimes 1 yard if it will go with other stuff I am buying or already have, or think I can find!! ;-) ;-)

I don't buy any, I just steal from my wife's stash (jljack!!!)

I always buy 5 or 6 yards if I want to use it in a pattern. For background I buy about 10 yards. For backing I buy 8 -10 yards. My theory is use it now or use it later. I like bigger amounts because by the time I get to using it I probably won't be able to match it. I usually make queen or larger sizes and want to be sure I have enough to make whatever pattern I pick out. I save the leftovers for log cabins or scrappy.

I use the like it, love it, got to have it, method.
If I like it I buy a fat quarter,1 yd, maybe 2 yards; love it, nothing less than 3 yards; and GOT TO HAVE IT, the sky's the limit; I've been known to buy 10yards... surprisingly there's very few fabrics in my cabinets I don't still like after a couple of years.

I like to leave something from the store where fabric is purchased with it in my stash. If I run short, I have a clue where to go get more and then hope they still have more!