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
Holiday Sewing
Max was so taken with the pattern he found of Owl on the Daisy Chain stand at the National Patchwork Championships in June that he couldn't wait to get the sewing done.
He chose the fabrics too (good choice!) and while Twit is finished and obviously much loved, Wit and Woo are still works in progress. (Mum's supervision time is being taken up with sewing on name tags!)
White van lady
Val: Finally got to downloading some of the pics from our journey at the Festival of Quilts and couldn't resist this one - parked at home it not only took up most of the driveway but also gently grazed the lower branches of my neighbours trees, and I needed steps to get into the back too!!! (Isa says that if I get to drive next year we might get one with a tail lift!)
Dates for next year's Festival of Quilts are 16-19 August 2012
One man’s comments
Val: Thankyou Derek for getting back to us with this:
"Its not my fault its the computer - it made me do it !" (ROFL) that's what I say about my sewing machine! I have just finished watching the video on Free Motion Embroidery and wanted to say thank you to Jennie for the video I have tried Free Motion Quilting on my Janome with disastrous results - I could never get the needle to perform a nice smooth curve or a straight, straight line.