I'm a longarm quilter... and I happen to agree with you wholeheartedly! To me a quilt, unless it is an artistic wallhanging, is mean to be used, loved and treasured. Dense quilting does several things, in my opinion. It can dominate the quilt and become the focal point instead of the piecing, it can make the quilt stiff and not very snuggly! And last, dense quiltinig is VERY expensive, in both thread and labor.
I love flowing, interlocking edge to edge designs. To me, they are the perfect compliment to a pieced top.