I used to buy 1/2 - 1 yard of whatever caught my fancy.
I'm totally with Shelbie & the others. I have piles of "I LOVE IT"s. But, when it's time to plan a quilt, I still have to buy. One table topper I did totally from my pink/blue calicos, scrappy style. But true scrappy is you are using up your scraps & I was cutting from my 1/2 y collection.
Now, I'm buying blenders & solids, unless there's an amazing sale. So, my fabric budget, and using 40-50% off coupons is going for those.
I'm a sucker for floral stripes, I always see "wonderful border" in those.
I saw a card trick done in stripes that I love, so now, if I see a stripe I like, I buy a 1/4 y.
Also trying to collect large pcs for backings.