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
Festival of Quilting 2015
Back home, exhausted but happy after five full days at Festival helping Isa at Creative Quilting on H17 ; always great to catch up with everyone and everything and see so many wonderful quilts - and not all of them entered into the competition - there is always so much inspiration on the stands too. Sadly I failed to take a camera that had any power (!) but that didn't stop me shopping both for myself (threads and fabric) and for Justhands-on.tv !!- so keep an eye on the shop for LOTS of new products from lots of our contributors, which include Angela Daymond; Janet Clare; Lina Patchwork; Lorna Bateman; the return of Mandy Shaw and a lovely new pattern from Kjersti Smith featuring Dinosaurs.
7th August 2015
Videos In Jennie’s latest book – Stitch Bits – see [...]
Cringe-worthy moments for a quilter – recognise any?
Shared with me by a quilting friend, so I now share it with you: https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/how-to-quilt/quilting-basics/10-cringe-worthy-moments-every-quilter-understands Sadly only some of these we can fix with little workshops on the site! however, I do recognise them all!!!!!