I buy at least 3 yds if I just want it ,no project in mind. If I need it for a quilt I try to buy 5 to 6 yds.

Wow! I am glad to know that I am not the only one that does not have a stash. Without some sort of plan for buying fabrics I can see myself spending a lot and still not having what I need. I appreciate all the really great advice from everyone. Thank you for asking the question.
Brenda

also for a stash go to yard/garage sales and can get fabric from there for your stash I always look for fabric while garage saling lol

I also go to yard sales and thrift stores. I very rarely buy new fabric. I usually use those coupons for batting. I also use sheets for backing. Nanaof2boys what kind of cat is that? I have one that looks just like it. Mine is a ragdoll.

Welcome from WI

I've found that collecting fabric is probably my favorite part of quilting. A family friend was putting his mother in a nursing home, and she had been a fabric collector her entire life. She kept it in great condition. When he had to go through her fabric room, he called me and my sister in law (also a quilter) and asked us if we'd like to come and take WHATEVER WE WANTED!!!! He wouldn't accept money, he just wanted it to be used. I'd died and gone to heaven. We're talking ROOMS full of fabric!! We lived in a teeny tiny apt at the time, so I only took as much as I could squeeze into our closet. Now that I have an entire craft room all my own, I tell my husband, "I wish I could've grabbed more!" But that was how I started my stash. People have already mentioned it, but collecting fat quarters and eights is a good start to any stash. It's inexpensive, and sometimes they'll go on clearance at Joann's for like $.99 for each, and I'll just buy and buy and buy. Even ones I don't think of as being my style, I know I'll use someday in a scrap quilt.

If you love it, buy 3 yds. However, you will acquire a large stash soon enough and then will complain that you have too much. I wouldn't worry about building a stash, it will build on its own.

I check the remnant bins first for bits of this and that. Amazing how often you find the "perfect" piece in there. Then when at least 50% off, I may buy the whole bolt if it is for a quilt I am working on. I also get the bolt of basics like beige, white, black, etc, that you can always be used for something.

I also tend to have "periods." I have gone through my fleece period, quilted double sided period and am now entering my quilting period. About to finish my first quilted wall hanging and working on first king size quilt.

Ditto to the remnant bin idea. I made my son's quilted Christmas stocking entirely out of remnant bin finds post-Christmas.

When ever I was buying fabric for a project I always bought a little more of each color. Back grounds and basics are a good way to start too. Diane C.