About Vendulka
Vendulka Battais is an award winning textile artist, tutor and half of the couple running textile studio OliVen in the heart of Suffolk.
Vendulka started her creative journey making clothes from remnants with her mum in the Czech Republic. She learned simple patchwork when she moved to the UK and was looking for a new hobby. From squares and triangles, Vendulka’s work evolved into quilting, embroidery, and circular patterns inspired by mandalas and dreamcatchers.
It was this growing passion which led her to start her own patchwork and quilting shop with her partner, Olivier, on the Isle of Wight in 2011. It’s called OliVen. In 2015, they moved family and shop to the village of Monks Eleigh in Suffolk.
Vendulka loves to make patchwork quilts, teach patchwork in the shop, travel to teach groups and demonstrate at shows.
Somehow she found the time to publish a wonderful book, Cathedral Windows – New Views, and win the Best in Show Award at Festival of Quilts 2021. This is what the judges had to say about the work: “a wonderful collaboration of design and workmanship. We loved the variety of feathers and their balance of glorious colour. A masterclass in the stitching of an intricate Mandala, together with precise use of the glitter liner medium.”
Signature Technique
Bringing embroidery into quilting
Top Tips
- Glittery and metallic paint on fabric brings a project to life – especially in the dark!
- Create an enhanced 3D effect on Cathedral windows with folded patchwork, padding, and a new colour twist.
- Combine different elements such as machine quilting and hand embroidery. It’s a joy to work on and the result is stunning.
Videos
Patterns
Posts
Accomplishments
Janet wrote to show us her quilt - she's very proud of her accomplishment. She retired at 61yrs and thought she would try her hand at patchwork. This is the second quilt she made. She told us "it's not perfect as you can see but an accomplishment I never thought possible." We think it's a fantastic accomplishment and a lovely choice of colours too.
3 November 2017
New Videos Every Friday Knitted Poppies If you [...]
Oakshott Open Days – how can you resist?
Who are Oakshott Fabrics: You may have seen some Oakshott fabrics in our Shop, but who are they? Oakshott is a family-run business which has been supplying quilters and textile artists the world over since 2003. The brand is renowned for the high quality of its fabrics and the sumptuousness of its colour ranges. The collections are designed entirely in-house and ethically sourced from respected weavers, currently in India.