Looking at it from another angle....when the two of you were deciding on purchasing the LA, did you ever mention that you hope to make money from doing others quilts on it? Especially trying to justify why it was needed or could be used? If you did, it might have been that you put the bug in his ear.
DH and I each have "fun money" -- it generally works for our hobbies but something like a LA would have to come out of general savings/budget/credit.