I think there is more value placed on machine quilting than on the piecing now. I have viewed many quilts here on the board that are beautifully pieced and quilted on a long arm, and it seems to me, the quilting gets more remarks. I have just bought my first long arm and while I will use it on all my quilts, I do not expect to become an fabulous quilter. I personally do not like all the extreme quilting that is done on quilts. I have used plain lines of stitching on my quilts and think they have turned out great. I read blogs of some modern quilters and they do not ever use the fancy feathers and swirls all over their quilts and I find that very refreshing, and they do not use long arms either. I believe the focus on all the heavy quilting will pass and something else will begin, it's life and there is always change.