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
Quilt in a day at Bee Crafty
Join me for a one-day workshop at Bee Crafty - the craft shop just outside Huntingdon Cambs - in February to create a Log Cabin quilt (top!); I promise it will be fun and I promise you will learn a quick and easy way to make log cabin blocks. If you are a complete beginner this class is perfect - we will be choosing fabrics on the evening before - and if you are already a patchworker but haven't come across this amazing construction method you too should join us.
November 2012
Have you had time to pop to the newlook website [...]
Join Carole Liebzeit for an exceptional class
Spaces are still available at Carol's class at Midsomer Quilting- Friday 16th November; Start with a colourful, simple pieced square and the fun begins! You will be using 3 inch and 3.5 inch square pieces of fabric in a nine patch format with colour strategies. Pieced squares form the corners, allowing you to ‘set’ your squares in a variety of so-called log cabin sets.