I am a fabric-a-holic. I go into a store and fall in love with a fabric and home it goes (of course with one or two great coordinating fabrics). I do occasionally see a pattern that I have to make. Sometimes I buy all the fabric for it at once. But, I tend to make first, the ones where the fabric was my driver because I can't wait to see it made into something. A lot of my patterns with fabric are still waiting to be made.
I remember as a newbie - I could see a quilt in everything. Someone's floor, a graphic somewhere, a rug, the coolest thing I think is that there is inspiration every where. You can't go wrong. As we say here, there is no Quilt Police. Have fun!