Oh, my...I definitely have changed in the last 5 years with my taste in fabric (I've become a fabric "snob"...LOL)and quilt patterns. I use to buy fabric because it was "cheap" (which it was...in more ways than one!) but now I'm more selective. Probably because it costs so much more but the quality is no comparison. I was cleaning out my stash drawers about a month ago when my DH did some major renovations to my sewing room. It was a good time to go through all this fabric that I thought I liked years ago. When I started looking at this fabric I wondered what I could have been thinking at the time when I bought it! To be honest, I don't think I really knew any better. The "knowing" comes with experience, I think.
As far as patterns go, I started out with traditional ones (but never made) then I went to modern (which I have made) and now I'm getting back to the traditional again. I think that's because I have more experience under my belt and I'm not as intimidated by them as I once was.
As with any thing in life, I think we grow and change :)