Have I bought quilts from a store - yes. Would I buy them again - yes. Do I make my own - yes. Do I have the skill or patience to make ones that I have bought - no. Does buying a quilt in a store cheapen what I do - no. Actually buying some quilts allows me the time to make the quilts I like to make and the joy of using beautiful quilts I don't want to have to make.
We have bought beautiful quilts made by machine and beautiful ones made by hand and I appreciate the talent invested in designing all of them and hand quilting some of them.
We have purchased quilts from many foreign countries and they are NOT made with slave labor. In India we purchased quilts made by women in a cooperative in the slums who sew quilts for a living. Was the quilt inexpensive - very much so compared to purchasing a hand made quilt in the US. However, those women were proud of their work and proud of the the fact that they made a living for their families. They own the cooperative and set their own prices, which are inexpensive. We also bought very inexpensive quilts in China that were beautiful and made by large machines that pump a quilt out every hour. It took someone a long time to design the gorgeous quilting and I am glad they did and glad that I didn't have to pay thousands for the quilt.
There is a place and a need for all.