I don't care what others buy or don't buy so quilt snobs don't faze me. I had one guild member tell me a brand of fabric I had was not very good and she said it in front of other members. I promptly said then this fabric and I should be a matched pair. Everyone laughed and it put the woman in her place without me being rude or getting upset. I grew up around southern church ladies that no one got the better of. LOL
I can afford to buy any machine I want to but I sew on one I found at a yard sale for $25. I have other machines that I have bought used. There is plenty of good fabric at thrift stores in the clothes, blankets for batting, sheets for backing. Doing Quilt as you Go will save long arm cost. Making quilts the way I can afford in the life situation I'm in at the time is all that matters . I have some quilts that cost me over $500 to make and some that cost probably $5. It makes no difference and no one cares anyway.