I usually pick the pattern, but sometimes I have a fabric that just has to be made into something and then I search for a pattern, not always easy.

Since I am a one project at a time person on a limited income I chose the pattern first and then go after the fabric.

:oops: This is one of my great faults... I fall in love with a fabric and end up with a stash that cries for a pattern.

My passion is samplers so I buy fabric that I love and want to work with and decide what to do with it as I go while also working from fabrics in my stash. I do have a person in mind for the quilt so a bit of a theme - squares that represent things that are important to them as much as possible. When not, I'll find an interesting square and use it.

I come up with my design first too and then buy fabric for it. I also usually overbuy, so I end up with a bit more in my small stash. Besides the fabrics that are earmarked for a specific quilt, I don't really have enough of any one thing in my stash to make a quilt with.

However, I LOVE scrappy quilts, and my LQS has a huge bin of scraps that I go diving in every couple months. This way I get way cool fabrics for my scrappy quilts without paying for whole pieces of them. I would say i have a pretty unreasonable amount of scraps, especially considering most of them are not MY scraps!! LOL I NEVER turn down an offer for good cotton scraps!! I use everything that is one inch wide or bigger, and I have gotten some pretty awesome fabrics by collecting other people's scraps. If they had a store, that was like a candy store, where you could go in and fill a bag with scraps for a certain price, I would be in big time trouble ....

Cheers!
Rachel

I also pick the pattern first. I always see fabric that I would love to "just buy"...but I never know how much I should buy.

Usually the pattern first.

I pick the pattern first. Then I visualize what is going to be my important color in the quilt and find material to go with it. Sometimes I have everything I need in my stash. Sometimes I have to buy everything at the fabric shop.

I pick the pattern first - I do have scraps which I will be using - I tried to complete q

sorry, hit the enter key by mistake - I tried completing one project before going to the next, but nope... Now I have 1 in the quilting process, 1 ready to baste then quilt, 1 in the piecing process and 1 ready to cut fabric. Never thought I would do that, but I got into a piecing mood the last 1 1/2 months. But back to your question - pattern than fabric, but there were a few times saw some fabric that I just had to have.