I have been thinking about this a lot, and I think I have very few rules. My main one seems to finish one quilt before I start another. I am pretty successful at that, and I KNOW that doesn't seem to be the rule of many quilters. I never have any UFO's though.
(I think this started back when I started teaching...45 years ago. I didn't have much money, and I made my own clothes. Teachers only get paid once a month, and my self-imposed rule was if I bought fabric, I had to have it sewn into a blouse, skirt, dress, or slacks by the next payday, otherwise I should have waited to buy it. The idea of any kind of a stash was foreign to me....not now though....I have learned the art of stashing.
)
Dina