More than gifts: A quilter's legacy of comfort in the NICU

A gift in a time of need can mean the world to someone.

Pris (Mama Pris) Phillips and her group, Wee Ones Quilts, gave these gifts out in bunches. Before her passing Sept. 30 from metastatic breast cancer, Phillips and Wee Ones Quilts donated 1,649 quilts to Kootenai Health’s NICU, with 269 of those made by Phillips, according to her daughter, Lindsey Marwil.

“She’d been making quilts for probably 20-plus years and in 2015 found a need for the babies in the NICU,” Marwil said.

Donated quilts had to meet Pris’s specifications before being given to the infants. They had to be made from high-quality quilting cotton, quilted (not tied), and 36 to 40 inches wide by 36 to 48 inches long. Flannel could not be used on the front of the quilt because it pills or balls up too easily.

“Families are always incredibly touched by them,” Kootenai Health Director of Women and Children’s Services Anna Tessendorf-Vollink said. “They notice the colors, the themes, and the quality right away. And you can tell they recognize that these are not just blankets. Her quilts have become part of the story of our NICU families.”

Marwil can't say exactly what sparked her mother’s interest in donating quilts to Kootenai Health’s NICU, but that her giving nature may have inspired her to create some good in the world.

“I believe she reached out just because she wanted a place to give her craft that would be actually used and loved,” Marwil said. “She would never make a quilt for profit. Never.”

As Wee Ones Quilts grew, more people got involved and sent their work to Phillips to donate. Two of them were Alesa Momerak and her mother, Ginger Hain. Hain moved in with her daughter and started donating her quilts in 2019. Being part of Wee Ones Quilts gave her mother a purpose, Momerak said.

“Pris was the most appreciative and kind person,” Momerak said. “She would find something really exciting about everything that mom made. When you're 95, you don't get that very often.”

The NICU can be an uncomfortably sterile and overwhelming environment. The handmade quilts added color and warmth to an otherwise cold setting.

“I hope people understand that these quilts were much more than gifts,” Tessendorf-Vollink said. “They were something families could continue to use as their babies grew, from tummy time to playtime and beyond.”

Momerak said Phillips and her faith have inspired her to keep helping the people around them.

“There's nothing that gives you a better feeling than doing something for someone else, especially if it's not expected,” Momerak said. “It not only gave to the NICU, but it gave purpose to the quilters too. It was a twofold gift that she gave to the people who like to make (quilts) but have nobody else to give it to.”

There is currently no set plan for what the future of Wee Ones Quilts will look like without Phillips. However, Marwil wants to keep the group going so her mother’s positive impact can continue to grow.

“Her legacy is going to live on through this and I'm going to figure out who can run this next because we want it to continue,” Marwil said. “My mom was a giver. For her to know that babies were able to not only go home but thrive because of something her and her friends provided, it meant the world to her.”

    A stack of quilts made by Wee Ones Quilts set to be donated to Kootenai Health's NICU.