Seems like a good way to turn off a lot of 'dedicated' quilters to the organization that commissioned the study. I have spent the requisite $600 this year, but that is because I'm getting started and bought a new-to-me sewing machine this year. Doubt I'll hit that again any time soon. On all their other "average" qualities, I'm a big outlier - probably 2-3 standard deviations from the mean...
Rest assured, dedication to a craft is certainly not measured by funds expended alone.
Cheers, K