I have never hand pieced a quilt. I have hand quilted and I have recently learned needleturn applique. I also LA quilt (hand guided,not computer guided). I never could master FMQ on my domestic machine.
The attitude is difficult to overcome. I do not feel machine quilted quilts are second class BUT I do have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for hand quilted quilts knowing the time, dedication and skill it requires. Because of that time, dedication and skill I perceive a higher value for quilts done by hand. Just as I would place a higher value on an original painting over a print or a hand crafted piece of furniture over an assembly line made one.
All are functional but one took a craftsperson years to hone the skill and then the time, dedication and love to create it. Quilters, both machine quilters and hand quilters do instill love into our craft. I have an enormous amount of respect for the LA quilters and domestic sewing machine quilters who are making heirloom pieces. But I can speak from experience here... To LA an heirloom quality quilt can take up to 120 hours of work if done thoughtfully and well but to do the same caliber of quilting by hand would take 10 times that long, if not more. So I believe this may explain part of the attitude of the ladies from your guild who consider hand work better. They are placing a value on the amount of time it takes.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with machine made quilts. I embrace them wholeheartedly. I think to compare the two is where the problem lies. They are both quiltmaking but approached in a completely different way and require different skill sets.