Jingle

Right now I am just using out of my stash. I use to have lots of fabrics but, I am using it up pretty fast. Sometimes I just use scraps. I make up a lot of my own simple pattern. If I run low on fabrics I just
improvise with something I have. I donate most quilts I make,

SusieQOH

I buy a lot of precuts and don't usually have a plan. I'll see a pattern I like and then find whatever I have that I want to use.
Like Dunster, I have a ridiculous amount of fabric, tools etc.

Railroadersbrat

I'm a serious planner, I use Electric Quilt 5 for my quilts and then buy more fabric than I need for a project, usually a half a yard to a full yard per color depending on price and how much I have of that particular color.

I have a tendency of finding those quick, easy projects that might take a weekend (tablerunner, placemats, pillows, etc) and it's fun to go through what I have, discover that yes, I do have enough and then sit down and whip it out. It's a great way to step back from a current project and not have to worry too much, stepping back and breathing every now and then is a good thing.

Once my stash starts to make me feel overwhelmed, then I know I've also got enough to stash bust a queen or even king-sized quilt top with a quick, mindless pattern like a nine-patch.

QuiltnNan

Even if I have a pattern, it always gets changed. I make it up as I go. That takes me longer, but no one will have one like it

Irishrose2

Planned ahead, except for borders. I either start with a fabric or a pattern I like, then choose the other. I collect all fabric except the border fabric. I wait and let the quilt tell me what it needs for borders.

Bear, I knew this was your post from the title.

quiltingshorttimer

When I started I always bought pattern and fabric to make it and would add a bit to the fabric totals in case I messed up. But as I now use EQ8 and have started doing more modern quilts, I design in EQ8 then go pull fabrics front stash, add to what I think I need and then it comes out very different that what I planned! And like Watson, I love those quilts best! On exception--any Judy Niemeyer pattern I always buy what's listed on the pattern!

Stitchnripper

I don’t have a stash to speak of and I love scraps so if I want to make a particular quilt I buy what I need with no extra and the scraps go into the heap when I say no extra I might get an extra 1/8 Yard of something but in recent years I have never bought yardage just because. I know I am strange. My quilty friends tease me about it. I do love a notion though. So most of my quilts are fly by the seat of my pants from the scrap bin. Quilting is the same way. I quilt my own and am happy with the results. Nothing prize winning but makes me happy.

Iceblossom

It all depends on the project. Usually I'm planned ahead knowing the quilts I want to make and roughly the order I'll be doing them. Some are completely kitted out with templates and several design iterations and notes and comments to myself, sometimes down to where I've ordered a quilting panto or template before I've even cut the fabric. I've had projects where I've collected particular themes of fabrics for years.

These past couple of years I've been trying to challenge myself in a variety of ways, one is to use my stash. Another is to explore different techniques and types of projects that are easier for my vision challenges to deal with. I've also been inspired seeing an improvisational quilter in my Tuesday group -- we work very differently but I always love what she does.

I guess if you have to plan in some spontaneity, then maybe that's not really being spontaneous but better than nothing, maybe still missing the point. I'm trying to let a lot more things just happen. But it doesn't come easy to me.

helou

I do not have a big stash and I try not to accumulate fabrics as I know I will get overwhelmed by it. so I do mostly scrap quilts to try to use what is left from my other projects. I did 2 quilts from a pattern to learn to read a pattern I adapted it to get the size I wanted. For the rest, I "sort of have a plan" but it changes along the process..

jmoore

Similar to Watson, I have two scenarios...if I have a pattern, I plan and prepare fabric selection and cutting. The second (which is most of the quilts I make) are scrappy projects in which I try to use my modest stash first and then work in what additional pieces I might need. Lately I have been loving Amanda’s book “No Scrap Left Behind”