Maybe because it can be so personally satisfying. Also, such a myriad of choices for fabrics, books, thread, machines, notions. No matter where you live, if you have a computer, there isn't anything that isn't available to you in the form of product sourcing, teaching, friendship of like minded quilters, etc. It's a wonderful time to be a quilter. To paraphrase "we all need to believe in something....believe I'll buy some more fabric".