For me it began as a hobby (after admiring so many beautiful quilts) but now I'd have to say it is a way to pay back the world for all the incredible blessings I've had. After the first about 40 quilts I now mostly make quilts for raffling (trips/projects my grandkids are involved in), donations for churches and schools to auction off, or special projects for schools.... I made a USA quilt with every state a different fabric so a choir school would have a place to put state decals of those they had performed in! I made quilts for Japan and wish my commitment load was smaller so I could make quilts for the tornado areas.
Oh, did I mention it is an addition? I'm trying to walk quickly past fabric shops; my stash runneth over.