The body’s physical and mental decline associated with aging varies from person to person, but some common issues can be a decline in memory, difficulty learning new things, and trouble focusing from one task to another.  Research shows that people who stay intellectually engaged are more likely to maintain their mental acuity.  Traditionally, quilting was done to provide warm blankets for families, but in the last few decades we have learned that quilting has much more to offer.   Our aging population has turned to quilting to help fill the time gap after retirement, to express creativity, for the health benefits of relieving stress, and increasing their social interaction.  More unintentionally, quilting has been proven to help combat the effects of aging because participants learn new skills, complete challenging tasks, and retain focus and concentration.   The Jabez Quilt Seminar (JQS) is a state-wide quilting seminar held every January for the last 16 years.  The 5-day conference is planned and coordinated by an advisory council consisting of the Lyon County FCS Agent and eight others.   This past year 120 participants had the opportunity to attend 36 classes that were offered by instructors from across the country.  Attendees were challenged with quilt classes that improved their spatial reasoning, problem solving skills, hand-eye coordination, color coordination and provide opportunity to develop personal relationships.  As an added benefit we have learned that 25% of the attendees are family groups and use our conference to improve their inter-generational family relationships.  53% of participants stated that our conference provides a stress free opportunity to connect with each other.  47% stated that the program allowed them to strengthen family bonds through shared experiences and memories.   In a written evaluation, 60% of the participants reported they will use the information they learned at JQS to teach others with an additional estimated reach of over 1800 people.  Participants also indicated they would use their new skills to reach the following audiences:

• Former and Current military through Quilts of Valor
• Children whose lives have been interrupted by tragedy
• Teach life skills to women in rehab centers
• Teach youth life skills
• Teach skills to federal prisoners

Because of the impact of JQS throughout the state of Kentucky and beyond, plans are in place to host the 17^th annual quilt retreat in January 2021.