I've been quilting about 8 years now, almost anyway, and I dont' think I bought any more fabric than I absolutely needed until the last year or two. I started buying 1/2 yard more than I needed so I could start building a stash. I bought 3 yards each of different reds, greens, golds and creams for my big project this year. I ended up with a TON left over....on purpose. I kept all the extra pieces from strips and everything. I hope to make a scrappy quilt some day, but I dont' know how long it's going to take to build up that many scraps! I hope to make one some day. Most of mine I've kept in strips because I know I want to make a scrappy log cabin someday, so I have a plastic tote slightly bigger than a shoe box to keep them in. I did have a wonderful quilting board angel that sent me some of her fabric she had no use for. I'm slowly incorporating them into projects so I can make more scraps! soon...someday soon I should be able to get moving.