This is a tough one. When I joined the board I noticed an overwhelming amount of machine quilting and I wondered the same thing. I agree that our ancestors would have probably machine quilted like crazy if it had been available. My problem with MQ is that it does not look the same as hand quilting to me. In this day and age (lots different from our ancestors) machine quilting is probably going to get even more popular. I hand quilt but I won't have nearly as many go give others. I think whatever works for you is what you should do. I also agree that LQS wouldn't have a chance if everyone hand quilted. In my opinion if you make a quilt you make a quilt- no rules on how it's made!