Why do we machine quilt - because we can. If our ancestors had access to sewing machines, they would have machine quilted too. Clothes used to be hand sewn, but how many are today?
When I machine quilt, I like sewing over seams to secure them because I consider them the weak spots in a quilt.
I love all types of quilting - people expressing themselves with their quilting - it's awesome. Hand quilting can be beautiful or not as well as machine quilting can be beautiful or not. How about tying? That's what we did when I was a kid - we tied all of our quilts!
You will get snobs no matter what craft you do.
Are we cheating if we drive a car instead of riding a horse or walking? Am I cheating by driving a car so computerized that it tells me which tire is low on air? No, it's called progress. And I love just looking at all the old cars especially the ones that still run.
I can appreciate the old ways as well as the new.