Hi Peg...I also have the same problem with choosing fabric. I'm working on my first ever OBW now and I'm not too sure about what I've picked...lol. The amount you need to buy will depend on the repeat and how big a quilt you want to make. But you do need to buy enough fabric to have 6 repeats of the pattern. If the repeat is quite close and you want to make a fairly big quilt, I guess you would have to buy double (12 repeats). Whatever you buy, it will need to be 6 or a multiple of 6 repeats. Have you looked at Cutebuns tutorials on this board? That's what I followed and they're great.