For my last project I happily started buying small amounts of fabrics that I thought might work. As the stack grew, I organized the colors in one of those clear plastic shoe boxes so I could see the fold of each fabric when I opened it up. I ended up with over 20 pieces! (talk about building a stash). I was able to play with them at home and decide which ones I wanted to use. Now, here is the important part. As I bought each piece, I made sure the selvege had all the information about the fabric (company, line, pattern #, etc.). If it wasn't all there, I used a ball point pen to write the info on the selvege of each piece so I wouldn't lose it - I always have to add the Color number as it is not printed on the selvege. Then, when I've decided what I want to do, I can go back and buy more or use the info on the selvege to find more of the fabric on the internet.