I only do hand quilting. When I started out I met a quilter (a man!) who did everything by hand - even piecing. So no matter what you do there is someone who may look down on you for it, don't let it bother you.
I have seen some really beautiful machine quilting, very artistic. However I have to say when I see a regular quilt with ordinary machine quilting on it, sometimes it makes me think of a bedspread from Sears.
Of course now that all the cr*p from China is coming in handquilted, someone could say the same thing about my handquilted quilts.
I think the main thing is, does your quilt make you happy? And if you are giving it to someone does it make them happy.
The people who want to criticize it, I would say "You may be right about that - I would love to see the quilts you have made, I bet they are fantastic." Chances are they have never made any.
And one of the previous posters hit it right on the head - when sewing machines first came out, women got down on their knees in gratitude that they would finally be spared the long tedious hours of hand sewing.