Your quilts are wonderful. I too do hand quilting. I have in the last few years done some machine quilting but I really enjoy the hand work. And I think it takes too long for most people. It takes several months to do what a machine can do in a day and most people want to move onto the next project. I don't think the shops encourage hand quilting because hand quilters don't spend like machine quilters do. At one quilt shop I was at when I told the owner I hand quilted he put his hands over his ears and said "don't say that four letter word". I am so grateful for all the machine quilters, since it has taken off there are so many more choices of fabrics and the work they do is gorgeous. It's like any other hobby, there are so many ways to enjoy it. To some people hand quilting is torture and to me it's so enjoyable and I do it till my fingers bleed..But at shows, they should not be in the same category. It's completely different.
I wish I had someone around me who enjoyed it as much as I do.