It all depends on the subject/project. If I have to travel an hour, it better be something I really want and enough of it. Better be more than the price of gas to make it worth my while. BUT I'm fortunate that I am within 5-10 minutes max of fabric stores. I always buy an extra 1/4-1/2 yd to allow for shrinkage and faux pas. A habit I've grown is to take a photo of the fabric still attached to the selvage edge. It helps to pick coordinating colors and you have the information you need if you want to purchase more. If the selvage edge doesn't have much info then take a photo of the end of the bolt (edge of the cardboard).