I really think when such a comment is made about something, say that someone inherited or was done years ago, it's not a reflection on the person's sewing as much as a reflection on the changes that have been made in equipment to make it easier for the things that we made today to be much more "perfect" than something we made years ago. I know when I started quilting, our pieces were cut with scissors. There were no rotary cutters and rules and commercially made templates to make the pieces all be pretty much identical. I did not have a 1/4" foot for my sewing machine. My mother did not have 1/4" tape so that her hand stitching was exact. We are so lucky today to have the equipment that we have to made quilting so much easier and our end product so much better.
I really don't think anyone on this board would intentionally put down anyone else's work when they know how much thought and effort went into it, even if it didn't end up as well done as what can be done today.