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
What you can enjoy watching on the site in December 2012
An Exhibition to wander round We have started the month off with a wander round the Hope Quilters’ Exhibition that was held in Kent earlier in the year; this was a fantastic exhibition organised by Sylvia Critcher to showcase the work created (and finished!) by her students over the previous 3 years – and boy is there a lot of it! (so this is just part 1!) Still time to make things for Christmas As Christmas is just around the corner we thought you might like a couple of really quick ideas to help with making some wonderful woven cards (but these will be good for other occasions too) from The Stitch Witch plus a really quick last minute wall hanging decoration from Valerie.
Dresden Plate and Grandmother’s Fan
These traditional patterns work so very well for scrap quilts but here are some that Valerie put together from petals sewn by one of her students: The challenge was to see what different settings worked and also how to use up the various petals which had been made at random!
Handing over more qults to Momentum
Major fundraising event for Momentum this weekend at the Kew Sparkle nr Richmond Surrey; lots of quilts will be available to purchase and here are just two that were donated: Momentum is a registered charity established in 2004 which aims to help children (up to the age of 17) and the families of children, undergoing treatment for cancer in Surrey and South West London.