I save all of my scraps... sometimes I even sew them together. My one guild's challenge this year is strings... fortunately, I've saved lots of those

I don't know if anyone else did this before, but when I started quilting, I was using the thin plastic templates and scissors and I learned how to maximize my yardage. When I made the move over to rotary cutting, I applied what I learned from the plastic templates, and will practically play Tetris on my yardage when I'm cutting. Most of the time, the only waste I have are the selvages and the extra pieces from the odds and ends are usually too small to save for anything else.

I'm bad. I cut what pieces I need and push the rest of the fabric in a pretty blue metal laundry bin. When the bin gets full I give the fabric to anyone that needs it and start over. I rarely use from that bin so can't see a reason to keep it once full. I have made scrap quilts but I don't enjoy doing that so I stopped. I'm not that hungry in the fabric department yet.

I typically play fast and wild with my fabric, both with my scrappy style and although I started out being very precise, for the last 20 years or so I use the cut/sew large and trim down techniques and things like making HST out of full squares of fabric -- something I used to snort down my nose and derisively refer to as "fabric wasteful" techniques. When I started analyzing things I found I wasn't really wasting all that much fabric (sure, some!).

I will draw cutting layouts and figure out things like if it makes more sense for rectangles to be Up/down or side/side orientation. I have certainly pieced more than one piece because the fabric was less than I thought. Read the bolt ends and measure (I keep a tape measure in my purse), although I grew up when fabric was 44/45" I no longer count on anything more than 40" usable -- if I get more I'm happy but I've had enough projects made difficult because I really needed 42.5" or whatever it needed to be and just wasn't there.

When you are cutting right triangles, you can narrow down the strip width so that one point is already snubbed off, it you have enough rows that extra 1/4" can turn into an extra row.

Measure repeat times! You can only cut once... I keep a roll of 1/4" quilters tape in my kit and will often put a piece on my ruler to reinforce the cutting line and to help in my cutting accuracy.

While talking about only cutting once, it's something I'm working at which is replacing my rotary blade more often than I do. I try to buy on sale/in bulk but I still feel they are "expensive". But even a full price $5 blade is a lot less than cutting up $100-350 worth of fabric badly.

I haven't been able to afford quilt shop fabric for most of my life, so I've always bought the sales and clearance fabrics. I'm trying to not buy any fabric any more except what I have immediate need/plans for -- no more buying just because I like something. Most of what I do buy is from thrift stores, I go out on a regular basis/route and never know what I'm going to get or how much there will be, but at $1-3 per yard/bundle, I can get a lot and some days I do while other days I come home with nothing. My Seattle area is relatively affluent and I am able to find all the quilt shop brands, along with a lot of Concord VIP type fabrics. You find yourself a lot more open when the fabric isn't $12+ per yard.

I seldom buy fabric not on sale. It has to be very special for me to pay full price and by sale it has to be at least 40% off. I won't even consider 20% off sales, not good enough sale to buy something I really don't have to buy. I buy notions that are consumable in bulk as in sewing machine needles, thread, and blades. I buy neutral basic colors, white, muslin, black, and gray, by the bolt on sale or a coupon worth using. The key is finding a great sale and buy what you will need for the future and stop thinking I don't need any right now. If alive and sewing you will use it.

OnebyOne, I like your idea of buying whole bolts of solids on sale and with a coupon. I'm not so sure that I'd ever use the whole bolt though. Still, I'd probably find a way, if I had the fabric on hand. Can you recommend any places that offer good coupons and discounts from time to time?

~ C

I buy the majority of my fabric from Marshall's Dry Goods because it's close to me. I can buy bolts at wholesale prices (no tax ID needed). When I find Robert Kauffman solids at Hobby Lobby I use the 40% off coupon for the bolt. I like going to Marshall's as I can browse the warehouse and find 8 yard bolts. They only sell 20 or more yards per bolt online. I rarely shop at JoAnn's as their markup on fabric is way too much, even with coupon. I recommend buying name brand fabric from Marshall's. I will buy the MDG brad only if I can feel it first, some are a little too stiff for my liking and the colors seem dull but good quality fabric.

Wow...40% off Kauffman fabric is a good deal! I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for coupons. I've never tried Marshall's Dry Goods, but will have a look-see. Thanks!

~ C

When I retired....and really started looking at all the fabric in my stash (much easier to buy fabric when I was working, much harder to actually use it) I really felt a bit distressed that I had put so much money into fabric rather then my "investment" plan....well....that has changed with the current price of fabric...turns out my fabric buying when I could afford it...was not such a bad investment. OK....the fabric is a bit dated....but....yikes ….some of the "modern" fabrics look a sneaky bit like some of my "vintage fabrics......I had also made a habit of always checking out the sale fabric at any of the quilt shops I went to....things I looked out for blender fabrics, fabric that would make a nice binding in a darker neutral color, clearance fabrics with enough yardage on the bolt for a backing.....so I do have a stash built up....and actually I think I have donated close to a 100 yards of fabric which was mostly bought a sale prices, to my church group who so far have made somewhere around 5000 masks.

I probably spend a lot more per yard buying pre-cuts but I love them and use them much more than yardage so it works out well for me. It takes me a lot longer to use up the yardage I have and that's usually for backings, etc.