I'm one of those weird "half breeds" I do both...I usually have more than 1 project going on at a time and I ALWAYS have something going on to do with my hands in front of the tv. I can spend some time with the machine during the day, but would MUCH rather spend time with DH at night and I usually always am sewing, knitting or something or another. It is very relaxing to me. Its funny that sometimes, my hand pieced projects get done quicker than my machine projects! You GO GIRL and do it anyway YOU want...to heck with that store owner...you don't HAVE to shop there :wink: