My experience with fat quarters has been that if you buy them for a certain collection, they are fun. But I've bought fat quarters that were put together by the LQS and looked nice, but when I opened them, many were disappointing. I agree with buying 1/2 yards when you can as sometimes the fat quarters are a little thin. Instead of 18 x 22, some were 18ish by 21 and didn't provide me with the amount I needed for my project.