She probably didn't mean anything by it; she may just not know any better. A lot of non-quilters think a quilt needs to be pieced in order to be a quilt. I have a good friend who thanked me for making her daughter a "real quilt" because she had received so many pannel quilts that had just been birthed, with no piecing. She didn't dislike them, but to her, she didn't know what to call them, since it needs to be pieced to be a quilt. I would rather assume that it was nothing but an unintended blunder due to ignorance of our craft than rude or mean-spirited.
I'm sure he'll love the quilt.