I have a nice size stash and I've bought most of it on sale over the years. If I liked a fabric and it was on sale, I bought a m/yd. If I loved it, I bought 3 m/yd. Now that my stash is good, I buy fat quaters of fabric I love and get one with the selvage info. so if I want more later I might be able to find it. I say might because it seems lately that if you don't buy this seasons fabric, it's gone before you know it. I am also glad I have a good stash because of the new bigger prints. I like the big prints but they don't seem to lend themselves too well to intricately pieced patterns. They do look lovely in the bigger block formats. The longer you quilt, the better your stash will be.