Awhile back, I met a woman who appraises quilts and asked her pretty much that very question; had always been curious. She said that appraisers, when assessing value, look for the quality of the work, regardless of whether it is machine quilted or hand quilted. I know that hand quilters (and people who know nothing of quilting as well) often seem to perceive that there is somehow less skill involved in machine quilting a quilt. I hand quilted for years, then began quilting smaller quilts on my sewing machine and, ultimately, acquired a Gammill which I now use for almost everything I do. I will bear witness to the fact that there is certainly a different skill set involved in machine quilting--different, but in no way inferior. In point of fact, I found machine quilting far more difficult to master to the extent that I was proud to show my work. There are people in this world, unfortunately, who seem to think that they can make themselves superior by belittling others. Truly, they aren't worth worrying about.