It does depend upon the type quilting you do. Most of my yardage is 1/2 yrds. I do art quilts. Some peoplelide to coordinated fabric quilts at least lap size. These take ~4 yrds, twin ~5 yds for the top. Also depends upon the size of the design and if you'll use large pieces of it and also a border. When I first started quilting, I didn't have a clue what my ultimate "voice" would be so I bought things that don't fit my current "voice". As some people have said, they don't buy for stash. They buy for projects and the leftovers contribute to the stash. You don't need to be in any hurry to collect fabric or a lot of beginner projects.