I'm just a hands-on, crafty, maker type person. I am always always always making something. What that "something" is tends to change every 5-6 years, but I'm always doing
something.
For me, it's a necessary creative outlet. I've been this way my whole life, even as a child I would rather make something out of tape and paper than to play with toys people had bought for me. As a teenager I was cutting up my old clothes to sew little stuffed animals and performing reconstructive surgery on my sister's dolls when the dogs would get them. Now I'm a "grown up" so I have more expensive materials and tools to play with, but the drive to be creative is the same as it's always been.
As to why I picked up quilting specifically....quilting is in my blood, both of my grandmothers were quilters and we all loved and treasured the quilts we were given. Now they have both passed on and nobody in the family but me has picked up quilting. I feel both obligated and privileged to carry on the tradition. And it's nice that my family has a quilting history, my quilts are VERY well received within the family, even my most amateurish beginner quilts have been treasured. That gives me warm fuzzies.
I am hopeful that my niece and/or nephew might some day take it up too, that would be wonderful to see it continue in the family for another generation.