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
Bags for the girls
Hi Valerie & Jenny....going 'bag' crazy at the moment.. ... made the first one for my lovely friend in Cornwall who completed 'Race for Life' ... well done Kathy ... Lyn
Be a Star competition quilt update
I am getting on with making the quilts (so far only tops) which are destined for Momemtum but as you can see there is quite a variety and am surprising myself at my inventiveness!!! Momentum raises funds for children and their families directly affected by life-threatening disease in the Kingston and Surrey areas. You can find out more about them and their work at www.moment-um.org
More sewing dates for Finding Ruby
We are having another sewing day Sunday 1 July 11am - 3pm - sewing - we can
start some machine sewing if anyone wants to bring their machine - we'll
have hand sewing as well. It would be a good time to look at the design for
the Rose quilt and plot the colours from the recent fabric dye session and
see how they work?