I like scrappy quilts, so I go for half yards or even fat quarters.

my standard buy is 3 yards.

if the price is great or i really love it i buy 6 or more yards.

i just bought a couple of bolts the other day because the price was right and i know i'll use it all up.

My motto:
If you like it, buy 1 yard
If you love it, buy 3 yards
If you can't live without it, buy 5 yards

but only if on sale!! I also buy the scrap packs at the LQS, and remnants from on-line fabric sites.

If I am close to finishing a bolt, I always take it all.

I have already identified the lucky recipient of my stash in my will....If I ever start to feel guilty about the quantity, I take the oldest (and not my favorites) and give it away to the guild to make charity quilts....eases my conscience...

I started by getting fat quarter as gifts. Then as I was out i started buying more fabrics of what would go with those flat quarters. I alway by at least a yard and if I really like it 3 yards. If I see something on sale that I really like, I will buy the rest of the fabric on the bolt. That works great for backing.

Wow! You guys are awesome. :D Thanks for all the responses. There are definitely a few things here to think about.

Since I'm still new, I don't really know which kind of quilts I prefer. I do know I want to try something more complex than 9-patch. I will have made four quilts as gifts before I make the first for me to keep, and I know that one will be a mystery/sampler quilt (I think queen sized). So I guess I'll keep buying fabric as needed for now unless I find an awesome sale on something I love! Maybe after a couple more quilts, I'll have a better idea of what I want to do in the future and will thus be able to buy fabric in advance.

Thanks again for all of your help!

Welcome to the fun board of 'quilt nuts!' You asked how much fabric to purchase? I would purchase no less than 3.5 yards for the background fabric (based on a double bed quilt) the if you have 4 fabrics total: 2 yds. of the next must used fabric; & 1.5 of each of the rest. Of course; you just gotta get some other fabrics too if you maybe 'need' them! I find that if you buy a little here, a little there, great way for building! You will find that you have some fabrics left over too after making a quilt! NEVER throw out any that is at least 1/8 yard.

BUY when there are good sales - build using COLOR! Colors you love & cannot do without. Always get minimum of 1 yd. You are so lucky to have a suportive husband!

I buy fabric that calls to me. Usually three yards at a time. When I buy for a project I always add a yard to what the pattern calls for. I just spent a day sorting and organizing fabric and was shocked at how big my stash has become.

I am fairly new to quilting too, and I started off buying one yard. I learned fairly quickly that a yard is not enough for what I want to do. I usually want a border or binding made of one of the fabrics in my quilt top. One yard doesn't allow for that, or at least it doesn't for me. I now buy a yard and a half or two yards.

So far this has worked well for me.

My stash recently grew at a Hancock;s sale. The sale is still one, if you have one nearby. Most of what I bought was 40% off.

Stash it! Prices going up up up!

I too am fairly new to quilting. My current stash fits into one teeny little bag! I tend to buy fat quarters because fabric in UK is so expensive. I don't want to lash out on something I may never get around to using. I usually wait till I have a project in mind before going fabric shopping. That said, I sometimes get a bit hysterical when I reach the quilting shop!