I tend to buy fabric specifically for a project. I typically only have one project going at a time. There have been a few times I have bought some fabric on sale, loosely with a project in mind. I mostly use that fabric for practice quilt sandwiches, as most of it I never ended up using in a project. Even at that, I still have a large Rubbermaid container of fabric odds/ends. This even after giving away A LOT of fabric when me moved to a different state several years ago (most of this fabric was left over from projects). I have never really gotten into scrappy quilts, though I like the look of many of them. But, I was loathe to let go of all this unused fabric, especially after reading a comment on Bonnie Hunters website to the effect that I paid for all that fabric - why not use it.
Generally by the time I am finished with a quilt, I am ready to move on to different fabric. Right now I need to go through that container and for the fabric I know I am unlikely to use - give it away (because it is okay to me, but I don't love it). I end up feeling overwhelmed with too much lying around that I am not using. I think I spend less money in the long run by only buying when I need it, and just for the project at hand.
That said, I am uncharacteristically in the middle of 3 projects. For one, I am utilizing left over fabric to try the Hunters Star pattern. For another, I had purchased fat quarters to make my first Log Cabin quilt. A third is quilting a king sized quilt I had pieced to use as backing to another quilt - but then didn't use it in that manner. It is kind of nice to be able to go back and forth between projects for a change of scenery. But who knows when I will complete any of them! Well - probably the quilting on the king sized quilt will make it first.
