I am a true scrap quilter, often collecting bags of scraps from friends. I also do a large portion of my shopping at Joann's, using their 40% off coupon whenever possible. Once a year my local guild has a Chinese Raffle and I usually can pick up some great fabrics from it. Plus I go on a Shop Hop once a year, where I stock up on whatever I'm lacking. (Last year I concentrated on buying stencils; the year before that it was neutrals.) For Christmas I have made table runners, table toppers with matching hot pads, lap quilts, and assorted napkins. This year I'm making my grandson a quilt for his bed, several table runners, a table topper and matching napkins, fabric bowels filled with goodies, and several wall hangings. I find that panels are wonderful to use as the main centerpiece for a table topper or wall hanging. I'm just learning to machine quilt and I use them to practice on. It's so easy to follow the lines and they work up fairly quickly, or at least much faster then if I'd appliqued everything on! :wink:
Hope that helps some.