Patpitter, I started in the 70's, when So-Fro was still an option, and Singer still had their own storefronts (I worked for them til '83). Hancocks was everywhere then too. They were GREAT for sales!

Another great source is estate sales and ebay/craigslist. Often a person has lost an elderly quilter and is trying to dispose of their 'workroom'. They will bundle huge stacks of fabric, boxes of precuts, bundles of tools/notions and other equipment. They are often at a great price and usually the person is so happy to find someone who will put he items to good use that they drop the price or throw in extra stuff. I have purchase many boxes that are so full of surprise goodies. Think about your workroom. How many precuts have you impulse bought and never done anything with? or that kit that was a great deal? specialty rulers? you get the idea. And, I think the person who passed would be pleased to know a quilter is getting use of their stuff instead of it being discarded.

I have lately become a fan of estate sales. Occasionally I run across an estate sale that is being held for an avid quilter that has passed away. You can really get some good deals there. I also shop the thrift stores/yard sales. I will occasionally buy from JoAnn's but since I donate all of my quilting and crochet work I have to pay attention to the cost of my material.

I'm afraid my "estate sale" will be rather a disappointment.....

I took sewing lessons at a Singer store in the late 70's.
In the early 90's I did make some mistakes buying flat fold fabrics at Hancocks. I remember on piece that just ripped apart in my hand as I was sewing on it with the machine.

I buy what I like and can afford. If the perfect fabric-color/design/feel-shows up at a box store, great. If it shows up at a quilt shop, great. I am not swayed by names-either brands or LQS-but rather by what I need or what will work for a particular project. Except for my weakness for cute baby flannel, I don't buy fabric just for the sake of buying. I have to have a project in mind. Not one for buying fabric from thrift shops/yard sales, I never see anything I am that impressed with.

I guess my answer is, "it depends".

I have a pretty good stash at this point, so I'm not interested in growing my stash unless it's something really special.

Fabric is my #1 favorite souvenir when I travel, though, so I will throw down a lot of money on vacation, buying fabric. Especially if I can find fabrics that are "local" in some sense. I try to find sales but if the perfect "souvenir" fabric is full price, I'll still go for it.

For basics like blenders and solids, I watch for sales and try not to buy anything "in the moment".

If I see a fabric line that I REALLY like, I'll go ahead and pay full price so I can get the colors/patterns I really want. I try to do that rarely, though, and save that for things that I think are really special.

I try not to just buy for the sake of buying...it's hardest when I've walked into a cute LQS somewhere and it's obviously painfully slow in there and the shopkeeper is just dying for some customers. I feel obliged to buy *something*, but I'm trying to get out of that feeling. Sometimes there's just nothing to my taste in the whole store, and I'm getting better about just walking away rather than forcing myself to find something "that will do", just so I'm not leaving empty handed.

I'm not cheap or a make do type person but I won't pay more for the same fabric just because it's local. I don't have that type of buyer loyalty for my quilting supplies. I buy on sale if it is on sale at the time I want it. I don't go looking for sales just to buy.

I no longer have an LQS nearby, so I've become a strictly internet fabric shopper, and now usually only buy with a specific project in mind. I find it is harder to browse on-line than in person (I really miss those days of LQS shopping). I enjoy shopping on Etsy, as they have a good search engine, and you can search the items in any given shop and come upon things unexpectedly. I am trying to break the habit of buying fat quarter bundles, because I prefer to come up with my own combinations, but they really hold an allure for me, for some reason. While it's always nice to find a sale, I don't restrict myself to sale items.

I watch out for estate sales, garage sales, thrift store sales, and also a good store sale!!! Don't buy precuts either (layer cakes, fat quarters...etc....)