Originally Posted by
katier825
Black, 200 count muslin, various marbles, blenders or other tonal fabrics would be a good start, along with some various prints in the persons favorite colors or themes. Personally, I like bright and soft shades, along with batiks. I'm not into the civil war prints or much of Moda's muddy colors.
Black is important to me for contrast, but not for everyone. When you buy, consider what you already have. What sorts of quilt do you especially like? I am not fond of 30's repro and the only pale colors I generally use are blue and green tonals. I make lots of quilts for kids in out of home placement, so I buy novelties and panels and things that go with them. I love strong batiks. After you figure out what sorts of things you like to make, stash building should be implied. Tonals in your favorite colors are always a good bet. Unless you have some idea of what you might want to do with it, "just because" is probably a poor choice. I had a lovely floral panel for 10 years before I figured it out. I go through a lot of moda muslin, as well. One thing to keep in mind is what size of quilt you are likely to make. If it is King sized, get 2-3 yard pieces. If it is table runners, 1/2- 3/4 yd is probably enough for anything you will want. Keep price in mind. Unless it is a major sale of really good stuff, cool it. While your tastes in colors may change somewhat over time, they probably won't change dramatically. I was a quilter for about 9 years before I bought all the fabrics for one quilt at one time. Unless you are buying a coordinating set, you probably won't find them together. Some people I know take tiny snips of all the stash fabrics with them when they shop.