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
16 September 2016
New Videos Every Friday Workshops This week Valerie shows [...]
Changing Places Quilt for Project Linus
We do love it when we inspire you, especially when it's all for a good cause. One of our lovely members, Liz, wrote to us recently as she had enjoyed Jennie's video Changing Places and thought it would be ideal as a scrap quilt for Project Linus. For those of you not familiar with Project Linus, it's a volunteer organisation. who provide new home made patchwork quilts and knitted/crocheted blankets to sick and traumatised children of all ages, and give volunteers across the UK the opportunity to contribute to their local community.
Bold Geometrics from Love Patchwork & Quilting
Love this pattern designed by Emily Dennis and in issue Thirty Eight of this magazine; plan to raid my stash but how much easier it will be to make with my Tri-Recs ruler!!!