Originally Posted by hazeljane
My favorite quilts are scrappy. I rarely make a quilt with less than 20 different fabrics in it, and usually more, so I tend to have lots of fat quarters, then lots of scraps from fat quarters, plus my vintage fabrics that I can't seem to stop buying. But for me, I have been unable to complete a quilt with only a few fabrics. I just lose interest. It's the fabrics and playing with color and pattern that I love.
I agree with this completely. I have been quilting for 35 years - so I've had a lot of time to collect fabrics. I make mostly scrap quilts. My purchasing habits: I buy remnants unless I hate them. I buy yardage when I need it. I buy fat quarters for the variety. If there is a really good sale - watch out pocketbook!
I bought a book years ago called Color and Cloth (Mary Coyne Penders) and from doing some of her exercises found the colors that I avoided. I filled those empty spots in.
I now have 2 1/2 dressers full of neatly folded, color organized fabric. I rarely have to go searching for the "right" one. I can't imagine going into a store to pick out 6 fabrics that work together in one trip. Just isn't going to happen.
Buy what you like. Enjoy the process. And keep your scraps!