Hi Quilting G--great question with some very interesting answers. I have enjoyed reading about everyone's stash.
I am a fabriholic too, but not to the extent that some of you are!!! My stash has grown several ways-----
1-I discover a specific fabric type that I like (ex-Civil War or 30s reproductions or Kansas Troubles Quilters) and then I start to amass a collection of it. If I want it for scrappy quilts then I usually buy just fat quarters or 1/2 yard pieces so I can get a lot of different ones. I will buy yardage of ones that I just LOVE so that I have border fabric when the time comes.
2-I worked in a quilt shop for about 6 months and my stash really grew (I owed the owner money after I spent my whole paycheck every month---does the saying "will work for fabric" ring a bell?
3-I had a friend whose Army husband was stationed in Korea. She used to go to the fabric market and buy fabric for a song. She was getting Moda for around $1.50/yard!!! She had to buy a minimum of 2 yards and since her stash was getting so huge she decided to share with me! So, when she bought two yards she would cut it in half and send me a yard. She sent me over 60 yards of fabric that year---for under $100! It was a great way to build my stash.
Now I just buy what yells to me in the store. Sometimes I just cannot make up my mind and so I end up buying nothing!!! I am starting to feel guilty because I know I will never live long enough to use up everything that is already in my stash!! But, my LQS is having a fat quarter sale, so I am going shopping again tomorrow!!! I guess I will never learn!!