My Amish friend in western Pa. cuts one yard of thread x 10 or 12. She has maybe 10-12 needles ready, threads them all, and puts them in either a pin cushion, or to the right side of where she is quilting. She has a small tablet on her quilt and marks it down. When all the thread is gone, she starts over again. The Amish all go by this standard.
I have another Amish friend who quilts for a Lancaster store. It must be 12 stitches per inch. Her sister is now quilting and wants quilts to do so she can get more practice so she can get to that. So I am putting a note in our local quilt guild monthly email if anyone wants theirs hand quilted. I just picked up a quilt by her and her stitches are tiny but I forgot to count them before I delivered the quilt to my 90-year old teacher who just made her last 2 quilts, so she says.