Stitches are counted using top and bottom! Rules are only for convenience as far as I am concerned. It think it has to do with regular sewing thats usually 5/8s of an inch, but that is not needed for quilts, so someone did 1/4 and it worked. 1/8 for a seam is not strong enough for a regular quilt, but might work for miniatures. I am a pragmatist-whatever works is good!