You asked the question, but I don't know if you really want an answer. How many quilts depends of course on the size and complexity of the quilt. Let's say that one quilt, together with backing and binding, takes 20 yards. (Not enough for a large complex quilt but more than needed for a smaller simple quilt - somewhere in the middle!) Okay, your 500 yards would only make 25 quilts. Now it doesn't sound like so much, does it? Now you need to go out and buy more!!!

I have never done a complete inventory and I'm a little afraid to do so. Four yards of fabric weighs about one pound. When you have the largest Rubbermaid container and you can barely lift it (at least 50 lbs) you know it contains about 200 yards. I have a bin of each colour plus others (ie thirties, batiks, children's etc.) This week I did a re-organizing and culled a huge bag to donate to the Mennonite Relief Centre for their charity quilts. I have been collecting fabric since I was nine and much of my collection was given to me or purchased very reasonably at rummage, estate and clear out sales. My goal is now to finish a whole bunch of UFO's (didn't count those either) and only use fabric from my stash to do so. I now only buy fabric if there is absolutely nothing that will work in my collection.

Ummm..... a lot. Maybe 50 - 70 depending on the size.

I have a bit more than that, maybe.

Heh yes, a lot.... I think so, too!! Kind of leaning towards Mattee's and JG's guess of 50+.

It's half playful (been FMQing and wondering; do you get the FMQ trance? lol). I do want to get a feel for how many quilts it might take me to free up enough space on my shelf to store battings, threads, notions and so on.

So I'm thinking I pulled 21 fabrics from my stash last night and I say well, that's maybe roughly 20 yards. (Some are half-yard cuts, most yards or longer yardage. I didn't measure! Could be 30 or more yards to begin with...)
Looking at the size of the dent that made in the tightly packed fabric in my shelf, I then "count" the remaining shelf size by comparison. So much for the "accuracy" of my guess...

And of course you're right, there's no way of really knowing how much fabric I'll really need for my future quilts - I haven't even designed most of them yet, much less made them! :D But hey, now I know I have a TON of quilt potential sitting right there on my shelf. I also "discovered" a lot of fabrics I can't remember ever having seen before... Even though I bought all of them last year.

I gave away at least that much last year to different charitable groups and you can't tell any is gone. 200+yds was approx 7-8" thick and the entire back of my Grand Cherokee. That's how much I bought at Marshall's Dry Goods last June.

Most of the magazine patterns give yardage requirements of about 14 yards for a 75" square quilt...top, binding, and back. So 500 yards is about 36 quilts of that size. My stash is at least double yours, but it sure wasn't all purchased in one year! Enjoy the freedom of choice a stash gives you!

Wow! You've got some serious amount of stash! A dream, if you've got the space for it. :D

Oh I will! Thank you :D

Funnily enough, I like my stash better now I've stopped buying to add to it. And I like it even better with gaining a (very rough) idea of how much it is, through this discussion.

I'm fairly new at this but have started gathering a stash but yours is seriously HUGE. I think you've got more than my local fabric shop.

I usually use a total of three yards plus batting for each Linus quilt I make. That would be approximately 166 Linus quilts. I have probably made that many this past year or so. I knew I have gone through at least ten rolls of Joann's 10yrd rolls of 48" batting. None of this includes my personal quilting. I made 14 banner style wallhangings for Christmas gifts this year and at least 4 or 5 other quilts or quilt projects.