I am very new at quilting, I am trying to buy my fabric for a small quilt or a table runner I have been looking on the internet and am wondering which way is the best way to buy fabric. Should I buy fabric by the yard, fat quarters, charm packs or jelly rolls. I just need some advice and all of you on this board are so nice and helpful.

It depends. The fat quarters, etc. are actually more expensive than buying by the yard. Let the pattern you want to make dictate how you buy.

I wouldn't recommend fat quarters unless you are sure you will buy all that you need or will be able to get the same fabric to finish your project. I made that mistake with my first quilt, it is a king size and I bought all I could at the same Walmart and then had to visit every other Walmart I could find in Maryland to get enough to finish. I did manage to get what I needed but I won't make that mistake again. Welcome to the board Cheri62 you will love it here and good luck with your project.

A big welcome from East Texas.

If you don't have any fabric yet, I suggest you decide on a pattern. Then buy the fabric. I believe yardage is the way to go. When I just buy fabric, not knowing what I'm going to do with it, I buy at least one yard. Of course, I love scrappy, so I always have enough, lol.

IMHO it really depends on what you wanna do.. If its scrappy then yes, a bunch of Fqs will work if you are sticking to a pattern buy a lil more then what it suggests for error...

When I started, I bought only yardage.

I would suggest you purchase fabric (yardage)for a pattern/project the first few you do. That way you have what you need for each project. Once you get going and have a favorite color palette or block you might gravitate towards purchasing some Fat Quarters.

Being new to quilting also, I find it easiest to first find a pattern I like and then buy the fabric according to the instructions. I often try to find the pictured fabric because I'm not real confident with color choices either. I much prefer to buy yardage rather than precuts inless they are called for by a pattern. They seem a waste of money to me and I don't mind having left overs for another project.

When I first started quilting I bought mostly yardage with a few fat quarters. I bought a good supply of fat quarters on Ebay a little later while still buying yardage at my LQS and online. I finally settled into making scrappy quilts. I know what colors I like and when I see something I like I buy at least two yards. If you have extra yardage you can always start to fill your scrap box or if you have enough left over from a project just put it back into your stash. Have fun!

Greetings, I buy yardage from a quilt shop and if i'm unsure of things I take the pattern with me there often great help, also because I make my share of errors I always ask because fabric changes often what fabric do they keep in stock. Nothings worse than finding I don't have enough due to my errors.
Sandra