Anything that appeals to me. I am a sampler quilter so I don't need big amounts of this or that because I do my samplers by block individually with their own personality and I will match colors but each block is an entity unto itself. Generally, I buy by the fat quarter or half yard. Actually right now I am working on designing a sampler with 15 blocks and I know the main color is lavender/purple, but I am picking out fab from my stash and will look for other fabrics. I will cut out the fabrics that I have and am using in a particular quilt and then find other pieces of fabric that I can use.
I do everything weird and bass-ackwards, but it works for me. It'll probably take till September to get everything all ready and til Christmas to get it all done. Do not plan to do any sewing (unless it is mending) until this Fall. I am embroidering a quilt this summer (been working on it for four years now if not longer, so I said "Edie, you got to get this done." So I am. And if I find anything in between at a fabric shop, don't think for one minute that it won't be in my hot little hands and with one little fat quarter, I'll design a whole quilt around it. That is what I like to do!
Edie