I did exactly that...buy for retirement. At least, that was my excuse: I should buy while still working and could afford to build a big stash and buy kits and buy yardage, not to mention books and patterns! Now that retirement is a reality (last week), I gotta break some habits. But your idea was the same as mine...I couldn't make anything from my piddly little stash.

I would buy it if you like it. I find that I always regret not buying more. There are so many fabrics I wished I had bought more of. Right now there are a good number of fabrics I do not care for so I have been buying way less. One thing I found is that I wished I had bought more 6 yard pieces for backing of large twin quilts and more 1 1/4 yr pieces to be used as a border. It seems I did well in the FQ department but now I need larger pieces to go with it.

This can work really well if your area has good garage sales and resale stores. I have two friends that pretty much only buy fabric this way. They find actual yardage and also buy mumus, men's shirts, skirts etc. and make the most beautiful quilts.

I was thinking the same and even my husabnd is buying for me. I do look at getting items that are not as trendy, reproduction prints, tone on tone and some how batiks fit in there. LOL

I do enjoy reading everyones ideas and experiences and am gleaning something from every post.

I buy when I see fabric that "talks" to me.
I buy when there's a sale.
I buy when I have a coupon i can use.
and I buy when I have a certain project in mind.
Also, I retired a few years back...and sorry to tell you, I seem to have less time on my hands now and wonder how I ever made time for WORK :).

I'm with you. I retired in 1996 & everyone askes me what I do with my time. I don't know how I had time to work.

I've been buying fabric for many years now. As a school teacher, I always wanted to have things on hand for snow days (or weeks - I live in Maine). I continue to buy fabric and have an incredible stash. I favor scrap quilts, so I don't generally buy lots of any one fabric. I do purchase remnants, sale fabrics, and fat quarters. And bolts of muslin. If I have a set plan in mind, I figure out on graph paper how much of each I need. We refer to this my OCD affliction. And I hate to ever use all of a fabric up. Shortly into my quilting passion, I purchased a book called Color and Cloth by Mary Coyne Penders. I realized from doing her exercises what colors I avoided. I filled in the holes in my collection then and continue to be "very liberal" in my choices. You never really know when (in my case) orange will be just what you need. I should have enough for retirement - but that isn't gonna stop me from purchasing. My cupboards may be empty - but I "treat" myself with fabric!

How interesting is to hear what others have to say and how each aproaches the quilt experience. I am delighted with the group of people I've found here!
Thanks all for being here!

I am 62 and don't expect to retire until 70! I love scrap quilts and applique quilts. I live about 40 miles from several fabric warehouses that have good fabric and sales. This past Friday and Sat my favorite warehouse had hundreds of bolts of beautiful good quality 100 % cotton for $2.25/yd. I had such fun stocking up and talking to all the other quilters who were there discussing what they would use their fabrics for. I usually buy 2 yds of each I chose and try to build up stash keeping in mind light, medium, and dark. Since I know I'll be working a long time to come, my motto has become less TV, more sewing! TV can really be a waste of quilting time for me!

Great idea! I've purchased a lot of fabric without a specific project in mind and now find that I can't imagine what I was thinking when I bought it. My aunt and I have made a pact -- no project, no fabric. Thread, backing, and batting is a perfect loophole for this.....