I buy per project and that's how I got most of my stash..leftovers.
I DO buy the occasional piece of fabric when I can't stand to leave it behind, even if I don't have a plan for it, but not too often.

Watson

I have a pretty decent stash and I have really been using what I have, I also have lots of scraps cut into the sizes I use the most. From my stash and scraps I have made 15 project Linus quilts and I an currently working on 2 baby boy quilts for a friend of my daughter who is having twin boys. I did have to buy 1 yard of green for the border all mine looked to girly. I used to buy a lot more but I find that I tend to buy the same types all the time so before I go shopping in the LQS I shop my stash.

I have a (seems to me) pretty big stash, mostly 1-2 yds, maybe 8 big lengths for wide borders or backing, and a lot of 1/4 or less pieces including my scraps. I rarely buy purposefully but instead intuitively and usually find fabrics in stash that go well together, often unexpectedly. All this is not to say that I don't go looking for the "right" fabric for a project, but not too often. And I always buy (online) on sale, except for muslin and small quantities of solids, which I don't use much. And yes, there are fabrics I don't like much, but they go into backings or small pieces where only the color matters.

I am of the small as in tiny "stash". usually scraps/leftovers from other projects which I am using now. I don't have a huge monetary investment in anything so can buy what I want when I want it. I read of fellow quilters who become overwhelmed with all that fabric and end up giving a lot of it away when tastes change or when room runs out, (of course there are those who love having all that fabric) but I think it would overwhelm me and I don't want to feel any kind of pressure to use it or to think of all the money invested. So far this is working well for me.

yes..... have a small/medium stash of fabrics that I have found that I like and were discounted (very rarely buy full price for stash)....

then I have been known to supplement with full price as needed for a project.

I hope by the time I retire to have enough stash to not need much on a more limited budget

You always pose interesting questions. :)

First I have to say that I probably will not use mine in my lifetime. I nearly always buy because I like what I see.
However, I do need a large variety because I do machine applique a lot and need many different colors to make the pictures.

In comparison to some stashes I've seen mine is fairly small, somewhere in the range of 200 yards, not counting my scraps which probably add another hundred yards or so. About a third of what I have is fabric that I have purchased over the years and the rest is fabric that was gifted to me. Since I make either scrappy quilts or art quilts I like having a stash. It allows me to put things together in unexpected ways, sometimes it forces me to do so since I pretty much confine myself to using my stash. I don't have enough room to have a bigger stash, so I'm on the fabric moratorium, though I do occasionally fall off the wagon when I see some fabric that really calls to me.

Other than the occasional backing fabric or if there really isn't enough of anything in my stash that will do for borders or binding, I have never purchased fabric with a specific quilt or pattern in mind because I don't work that way. I tend to purchase fabric based on what I'm running low on in my stash--- usually solids or patterns that read as lights, sometimes darks. When I need to replenish those I take a trip to my LQS and root through their remnant bins.

Rob

I have a stash acquired from sales but awhile ago I transitioned to only project-specific buying. Going on nearly 9 months without buying fabric, my goal is to make it 2 years at least. The money is super tight right now which is helping me to get in the habit ;) The stash is great when one of the special little ones in my life digs thru my scraps and I need backing or coordinates or something, it's nice to just go in my fabric closet, dig for what I'm looking for, and start on my project!!

After some trial and error, I found it works best for me to buy fabric for a project. I do have plenty of extra fabric around from leftover fabric from planned projects as I do tend to buy extra, just in case. And I also have a few kits waiting that I've picked up at shows or just shopping. I try to use up left overs in smaller projects like table runners, then find I need to buy a few more special fabrics to finish. I have intentions of making more scrappy quilts, but so far haven't really done that.

Quiltingnan I agree with you! I love my "textile Collection " and I also pet it! I was in a shop waiting for my fabric to be cut. The owner said to me, " I can see you are a quilter because you are stroking the fabric!" She was absolutely right!