As a rule, I'm a rule breaker. (pun intended!) However, over the many, many years of quilting, I have developed my own set of rules that I rarely break. Having had a purple fabric bleed, I now wash all my fabrics as soon as I bring them home. After years of tugging, easing, stretching to get my seams to match, I've become obsessive about cutting accurately and sewing an accurate 1/4" seam and I've been so much happier with my quilting experiences and my quilts. I usually don't press, except with my finger nail, until my block is done or sometimes until the whole quilt is done if I'm in a hurry. I used to use my sewing scissors for everything, but being cheap has caused me to be more particular and now I don't have to keep buying new ones! I don't pin unless I'm sewing curves . Like everyone, I've heard horror stories about cuts from rotary cutters, but I had to learn for myself. I cut myself once when my open rotary cutter got buried under some fabric, and I tried and tried to remember to close it, but I often forgot, so I bought the kind that closes when you release it. LOVE IT! I don't believe in following color wheel color combinations. I put colors together that I love and that look good to me! I change patterns when I feel like it, or make up my own. And I have LOTS of UFOs. Way, way, way too many. I need to make a rule to finish what I start, but then, what fun would that be???