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
How do I avoid having a birds nest on the back of my quilt?
A birds nest is that ravel of thead that often happens when you start quilting part way into a project and when you are making a quilt you need the back of it to be as beautiful as the front. An easy way to do this is to pull that bottom thread up through the work so that you have it under control and then you can knot it off later.
What do you do with the thread ends when you are finished quilting?
Well the threads can be knotted and then hidden in the wadding. You can see how by watching Knotting Off Your Threads and here is what one happy viewer had to say: I have just watched 'Knotting Off Your Threads' with Valerie and would like to say thank you for sharing such a great method. I was taking both threads to the back, tying them off and then weaving in the ends which seemed to take longer than the actual quilting!
What wadding should I use?
Question from Janice: Hello again, well I've finished the topping for my log cabin quilt and now am about to sandwhich it together. I have Heirloom cotton batting and good old fashioned polyester batting. Having been slightly put of by the instructions on the heirloom batting, although that was my original choice, can you tell me - do I really need to rinse in tepid water & dry as recommended on the packaging for shrinkage or can I just apply it as it comes after opening & flattened overnight.
I have never used this type but heard Jennie say on C&C it was fabulous so ofcourse I bought it.