Here is my take on it. Do what you want! and what you can do good. Now, for what I do. If the quilt is going in a show, I hand stitch. the judges look for that, and sew up those corners. If it is a charity quilt, kids drag around, any ruff care, my sons scout and camping quilt, and DG"s get machine sewn. The one on my bed right now is machine sewn. So, there are no quilt police, do what works for you. Just make it look great and no one will care.