I have also hiked patchwork. At one point, I had 12 different individual pieces. I currently have 8 spread over the whole trail. As said, it is very satisfying to connect two pieces together to make one larger one.
My rules are that I will hike every single mile, but the direction is not important. If I have a choice, I will choose the easiest, for example, I ended two separate hikes at the NOC, so I never climbed out of it.
I keep track of everything on a spreadsheet. I am currently 43% done. The only states I haven't hike in are Maine, Vermont, Maryland, and WV.
Next up is 30 or 39 miles in PA, while visiting family.
My breakdown looks like this:
Percentage By State 4 of 15 Georgia 78.1 78.1 100.00% North Carolina Only 96.4 96.4 100.00% NC/TN Border 169.2 217.7 77.72% Tennessee Only 74.6 74.6 100.00% Virginia 128.6 541.3 23.76% West Virginia 0.0 17.4 0.00% Maryland 0.0 40.9 0.00% Pennsylvania 61.2 229.2 26.70% New Jersey 42.5 72.2 58.86% New York 53.0 89.8 59.02% Connecticut 50.5 50.5 100.00% Massachusetts 44.0 90.4 48.67% Vermont 0.0 150.7 0.00% New Hampshire 144.6 161.0 89.81% Maine 0.0 281.8 0.00%