I have a stash because when I first started I thought I was suppose to have one. Most of my fabric was bought on sale and I do try to use it first for any new project, but I always end up buying new. Styles and tastes change, so if I had it to do over, I would only buy fabric for a current project. I am trying to make a lot of scrappy quilts to use up my stash, but they don't take a lot of fabric. One thing you can do with a stash is piece them to make backs.