I collect fabric for projects and it quite often takes me a few years to put everything together. For example I just finished a quilt for my husband who is a car nut so every quilt store I went into I searched out car fabrics that weren't juvenile. Before that I was searching for monkeys for my son-in-law, music prints for a friend, animal prints for my daughter-in-law and now sunflower prints for my daughter. I always check out the 30's reproduction to add to my collection and then anything that is unique. I rarely buy tonals ahead of time but will look for prints with lots of color in them that will go with a lot of different things. If I need neutrals then I go to a local fabric shop specifically for them.