Yardage per pattern do you have
 

I was just wondering, generally, what is the most yardage you buy/ or have bought of one fabric? I think the most I have bought of one is about 5 yds. I buy good muslin for my backs so that is usually a bolt at a time. Just wonder how/why some accumulate 10-15 yds of one fab.......

I bought an entire bolt of solid white once and cull from it frequently. Another time I bought up to six yards of a fabric I absolutely fell in love with because I wanted enough for borders, backing and to piece some into the top. I have to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it, though, in order to buy that much.

I just bought 15 yards of a fabric to make a quilt for my brother. It will be a OBW and I want to have enough to do borders and the backing in the orginal fabric.

I have bought the whole bolt of many fabrics; because : I love it, it was a good price; and I make a lot of charity quilts.

If I want a fabric but don't know what I'm going to do with it I buy 3 yards. If I really like it I buy 6 yards and if I buy for a backing I buy 9 yards. Neutrals are always a good thing to have on hand -- you never know when you might need one.

In the past, a shop that closed several years ago, would have a really fantastic sale on New Years Day. Good fabrics would be $1.69 a yard. If it was a fabric that I thought I could use someday I purchased everything left on the bolt. I still have several of those left. I make a lot of quilts that are donated to various places and have been using those fabrics for the backs.

I've gotten bolts of solid white Kona ( always a good thing if you quilt for charity) and I was just asking myself last night "why didn't you get six yards of that batik- you know you love it!!"

I usually only buy Black or White Kona by the bolt. If I see a fabric I absolutely love, I will buy 5 yards only. Too many fabric out there to buy and I don't want to go bust and be homeless !! :)

It depends on what size of quilts you like to make too to figure out what you generally need to have on hand. Most of the quilts I've been making are bed sized, so I know I need a minimum of 8 yards for a back, so if I run into a sale opportunity, I stock up. Once you start cutting fabric to piece a top, your fabric requirements go up exponentially so I find about 12-13 yards of coordinating fabrics is often what I end up buying for a large queen or king quilt top and binding. Of course I have leftovers, but then I have enough for coordinating pillows or small projects, or to put into another quilt top.... I also buy bulk backgrounds, I.e. Solids in neutral colours. I don't live close to a LQS, so when I get to a shop with a sale, I stock up, so I can usually make something when I get the urge ;-)

I'm about to purchase 10 yards for a little brown bird quilt. The pattern suggests 8 yards for the block backgrounds but I like to have a little extra in case I make a mistake in cutting. Usually, I buy 3 yards of a fabric that I think I'll use in a quilt but I probably should get 5 yards.