by Louise Cleland
Capron, Illinois
 Say "Billie Lauder" to just about anyone and they will instantly recognize the name, either from her many books (24 to date), her multiple appearances on Simply Quilts or from teaching classes across the country. Her methods of making quilting easier for everyone, her jolly laugh, and her down-to-earth personality, make her one of the most noteworthy and notable quilters of our time.
For Billie, quilting envelopes the past, present, and future. Her grandmother homesteaded with her family in Montana and bartered with cowboys, trading their help for her pieced quilts. "The story goes that Grandpa helped her cut out quilt pieces with his bowie knife," says Billie. It was from her grandmother she learned how to piece quilts. Her mother, who quilted by choice and not necessity, loved to appliqué. And so, exclaims Billie, "I got the best of both worlds." Billie hopes to continue to pass on quilting to future generations.
Billie grew up in Palos Park, Illinois, but has spent most of her life in California. She completed college at Cal State University - Northridge, where she received teaching credentials in art and anthropology. "I got back into quilting during my college years (after a four-year growing up slump). One of my course requirements was to do something with the fabric we printed and dyed. Piecing, appliqué, and quilting were perfect. I did a lot of embellishing with beads back then, and we are talking the 1970s," laughs Billie.
After graduation Billie taught art, painting and quilting, but soon it was just quilting. Thus began Billie's full-time teaching career. Billie had been teaching quilting for about 11 years when she was approached to work with Alex Anderson to establish HGTV's Simply Quilts. "They called on a Friday night, I met with them on Saturday, and the rest is history," relates Billie. "During the first season I was in five shows - and that was in addition to my day job!"
Continued...
(The rest of this story can be found in your issue of The Quilting Quarterly. Not an NQA member? Click here!)
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