I live in Indiana and northern Indiana has a large Amish population, every year they have a big quilt auction and some of them bring thousands of dollars. This may not be a popular opinion but it is mine :-)
I think some people have more money than they know what to do with and they like to have possesions that other people recognise as "top notch" superior ect. Over the years the Amish quilts have aquired that reputation. I have talked to people that would like to buy quilts and they don't quilt or sew themselves. These people seem to be more interested in the fact that a quilt is hand quilted than if it is pieced by hand or sewn on a machine. But they feel if they pay big money for a quilt like that other people will say well you could have had an Amish quilt for that price. I think some people are just to involved in the status of something rather than pleasing themselves. Sorry to run on about this and don't mean to offend anyone. I think Amish quilts can be beautiful, but do I think they warrent the money some of them bring?....no. Just my 2 cents