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 with Paula Doyle and Julia Gahagan
Despite having put in 4 long days at the Festival of Quilts providing workshops and demonstrations these two ladies joined Dave, Matt and Val for a day's filming . Paula Doyle generously allowed us to use her lovely workshop and you can see us getting ready (!) - Look out for workshops with Paula on making her Tulip Tree Bag and on hand quilting but you can enjoy her mini-mosaics workshop now by clicking here: Julia Gahagan is passionate about miniature quilts and showed us how easy it is to create a small shadow applique project.
Take 3 from Mary
Mary says: I like to think that this is either a Quaker or Amish quilt, you know the type that has a deliberate error as nothing can be perfect in this life!! Mind you there are quite a lot of errors, but not too bad for a first attempt I suppose. Well done - Mary - it looks lovely. Interesting that both Mary and Tina redesigned the quilt blocks in to the same design - not the one Jennie and Val did - any others out there?
August 2013
Is it still too hot to sew? But even if [...]