I am not offended, TanyaL, and I do consider myself a fabric artist. That said, quilting is only one of many fabric arts. Clothing, furnishings, haberdasherie are a few others. All the fabric arts require the same skills as painting - color coordination. Some of the fabric arts use the same tools, such as rotary cutters or scissors and measuring tools. I happen to also do woodwork. I would not buy a cheap table saw that the blade wobbles as it spins. I also would not buy a cheap rotary cutter that the blade wobbles. Either would be a waste of my hard earned, and limited, money. Either would drive me crazy and make me quit before I got far. My DDiL just started quilting. I helped her pick the best tools she could afford - certainly not top of the line, but not low quality; good enough not to turn her away from quilting, but cheap enough that she could let go of them (trash) if she decided she didn't like quilting. I would never recommend a beginner buy more tools than needed, just good enough tools to enjoy using them. I still use the rotary cutter (the mat wore out and the ruler broke) that I started with. I have added many more tools to my collection over the years. I don't know any painters who are still using the brushes they bought 20+ years ago.
These are just my humble thoughts and are not meant to offend you, just to explain my thinking on the subject. I am certainly not the quilt police, and will not question anyone's methods of quilting. - except to learn from them.