From the other end of the spectrum... I don't make my own tops. By the very definition, I am a "quilter", but I dont' think I'm any more or any less involved than the person making the top.
Like so many others, I started out hand-quilting. When I started machine-quilting, I gave Christmas wall-hangings that I "whipped up", and the first thing some of the people did was look to see if it was by hand or not. Now, nothing negative was said, but I could tell there was disappointment by family members that it wasn't hand stitched. OTOH, people who didn't know I used to hand quilt gave me the appropriate "oohs and ahhs" that I wanted to hear!!
True story (kind of unrelated): I was at a fabric shop when someone came in to pick up some quilts they had left there to have quilted. I don't know how much they cost, but it was an all over pattern, and it just didn't look great at all (seeing the quilts on this board has spoiled me!) and I happened to notice that at least one of those quilts was a cheater top!!