After reading through this thread I wish people would more often live by the saying "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". There are plenty of quilts (and other things) that I do not like, but I can usually find something nice to say - and if I really can't I don't say anything at all.
As for the quality of hand crafted items vs. store bought; boy is there a difference! Wool sweaters bought at a store usually last me about a year, maybe 2 if I an lucky. But I have a hand-knitted sweater that my grandmother made for my mother about 30 years ago and I can still wear it today! (I have 'borrowed' it from my mother's closet the day I got to be the same size as her, and 'forgot' to give it back - she didn't wear it anymore). And I have never seen my grandmother happier than the first time she saw me wearing it!