First, yes you have amazing friends and wife. How about getting some quilting books that have pictures of the type of quilts you want to do. Show this to your wife/friends and then mention that you just have to get some yardages of background fabric to go with all of thier great gifts they've given to you so far and you can complete one of them. This may open the opportunity for discussion as to the color scheme or a gift certificate, etc that could get you more of what you want. Good luck. You'd be surprised that even ugly fabric when cut down can totally change its looks and be used in quilts successfully. Have you tried to use some of the fabric by chosing different sections out, even the pannel can be used. The flannel works great in rag quilts or even patch work quilts. You didn't say what type of quilts you were doing but there are lots out there. Right now, I making a log cabin out of large fleece pieces and its looking really pretty.