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
Filming day with Karen Nicol
We spent a wonderful morning in the company of this very talented lady; she lives in Surrey and is a textile artists who has worked for some of the world's top fashion designers and now uses her talents to create stunning unique pieces from the objects she finds around her - and in charity shops! Here we are busy chatting over one of her 'lace skirts' which were in an earlier exhibition She is however currently working on her Monkey Tricks exhibition entitled 'Singerie' - 5th Nov -30th November 2013 and at the Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, 28 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 2NA
To see more of Karen's work you can visit her website: (and she also the author of a lovely book entitled 'Embellished - new vintage')
www.karennicol.com She is part of a very talented textile household as her husband (Peter Clark) works in paper collage: - you can see his work when you visit
www.peterclarkcollage.com
What to do about the layers in hand applique
Question: I am trying to do an applique flower it has abour 4 layers, including the back ground fabric, would it be better to applique 2 layers first, then do 2 on there own, and then attach it to the first 2 layers? as when i do the 4 altogether l am finding it hard to get the needle to go through all 4 layers.i am hand stitching the design.thank-you this is my first attempt at this so am very green on the best way to do this. Thank-you for any advice Sandra Answer from Valerie: The easiest way to do this layered flower is to put the first piece down - i.e.
What to do with the fusible applique pieces.
Question: Hi have just recieved Mandy Shaws Follow your own star quilt pattern and have already become stuck with the applique angels . They all have different coloured drsses on, so do l first cut out the whole angel then cut out the different parts of their colthes and then fuse them on to the background angel so it appears they are dressed ?