As the Needle Turns, a local chapter of the Appliqué Society, hand-crafted quilts and donated them to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients. As the Needle Turns is made up of women from Spring, The Woodlands, Conroe and College Station. They meet monthly and focus on the art of appliqué when quilting. The group had a desire to work on a community outreach project and after careful consideration one of the members, Billie Ryan, RN, in the NICU at Houston Northwest Medical Center suggested making quilts for NICU patients.

The quilts will initially be placed on the premature baby’s incubator. The quilts will help decrease the noise and light levels that the baby is exposed to. When the baby is ready to graduate to an open crib they can continue to use the quit as a blanket, and then take the quilt with them when they go home.

“The ultimate form of artistic needlework, appliqué is the process of sewing something - usually a cutout fabric motif - to a garment,” says Amy Depan, leader of the As the Needle Turns chapter. “The members of our group took special pride in making these quilts for these babies and their parents.”

“There is no doubt that having a baby in the NICU is a stressful experience,” says Billie Ryan, RN in the NICU at Houston Northwest Medical Center and As the Needle Turns quilter. Covering the incubator and protecting the babies from the bright lights and noise in NICU is an important part of developmental care. “We wanted to give a piece of ourselves, some comfort to these parents and babies by making them a keepsake that they can take home.”