Group Enquiries

Printable list of workshops including prices – click here

Vendulka BATTAIS

Award winning Textile artist, quilter, and tutor 

Vendulka used to run her own fabric shop for lovely 13 years and taught from the adjoining workshop thousands of students. She decided to close the shop in March 2024 and fully concentrate on teaching and her own creative journey.  At he beginning of 2018 she published her first book Cathedral Windows – NEW VIEWS. She has won several quilt awards, including first place at Modern Category at FOQ, best achievement to date is with her quilt Our ladies which won Best in show at the Festival of Quilts at 2021. In 2024 she has finished her qualification as a Quilt judge with the Quilter’s Guild.

Vendulka offers 3 different talks to choose from, these are available in person or over ZOOM:

Journey with OliVen – she will talk about her journey – how a girl from the Czech Republic became a quilt shop owner and tutor in the UK. She will present a selection of quilts from the first one she made, family quilts, award-winning quilts, selection of Cathedral window quilts and the latest art quilts.

No more Squares and triangles – In this talk Vendulka will talk over her collection work where she was exploring more artistic approach to quilting as well as her flirting with the Modern style. This will be supported by a large selection of samples and finished hangings.

Judging and winning – as a qualified judge, Vendulka will talk about the process of becoming a judge, bringing lots of samples she has made as part of her course. She will also offer advice on entering competitions and explains what is it judges are looking for. She will also bring her winning quilts and talk about those.

Samples of one-day workshops:

IMG_6776_Fotor_FotorFaux Chenille Workshop

Several layers of fabric which are cut through to reveal the different layers and creating a pattern on the fabric with stitch and scissors. If you like creativity and playfulness with fabric, this is the class for you! On the day students are able to get a good start on a smaller wall hanging or a cushion panel.

Play with Marabu LinersIMG_6393_Fotor_Fotor

Marabu liners come in metallic or glitter series, are easy to apply and are washable. They are a wonderful way to enhance your appliqué, bring out your quilting or to add text and some sparkle to your work. I will provide students with 12 different designs to choose from. We will spend the morning quilting the designs and painting them in the afternoon.

Intricate curves

This technique is using freezer paper and hybrid between piecing and appliqué. I have used this technique for piecing complicated curves or inserting perfect straight lines on my quilt Balance, which was awarded first prize at the FOQ 2023. I will have two designs for students to choose from and we will create a small wall hanging or cushion which will teach you the ins and outs of this intricate technique. You will also know how to transfer this to your own designs.

Cathedral window technique

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I piece my cathedral windows with a sewing machine which allows me to create more striking colour combinations – the background fabric can be different from the one framing individual windows. I have several different designs from simple cushions to more intricate wall hangings for students to choose from on the day.

Wild flowers 

Using the combination of machine stitching and a few hand embroidery stitches, you will create unique wall hanging with flowers like Allium, cow parsley, lavender and more. Suitable for beginners

One inch square cushionIMG_7049_Fotor

After this workshop, you will save every tiny square you have left from your sewing as I will show you very effective and quite fast and simple way how to turn 1” squares into wonderful cloth which can be used as a cushion, wall hanging or book cover.

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Embroidered curves

We will create beautiful cloth using gentle curve piecing, fancy stitches you have on your sewing machine and hand embroidery (optional). This cloth can be then turned into a book cover, cushion etc.

DreamcatcherIMG_9025_Fotor

You will learn how to weave dream catcher, we will also use organza and stitch to create beautiful transparent feathers. You will then have the option of keeping it loosely hanging or attaching it to the quilted background.

stained glass Vendulka battais

Contemporary Stained Glass Windows

Let’s take traditional technique and give it more modern look. I will guide you through designing your own or you can use one of my designs.

Please contact us for details about prices and availability info@oliven.co.uk

You can find all this info including photos in this PDF file – click here to open in new window.

Online teaching – pre-recorded lessons combined with ZOOM:

I took several of my favourite classes and recorded in depth teachings with lots of close up videos. They are divided into lessons, so that it’s easy to find the step you are looking for, students will have the access forever and they can watch the videos as many times as they would like.
For the groups I came up with a plan how to use the best of both – pre-recorded videos and Zoom. We will set the date for the workshop and people will be able to purchase the video course ahead of time, so that they can watch it beforehand and get ready. On the day we will connect at 10 AM for a half an hour zoom, so that I can meet everyone, they can share about their choices of fabrics and obviously ask any questions they might have! I will then send them off making sure everyone knows what they’re doing and we meet again at 12:30 PM for another half an hour to find out how did everyone got on and if they have any questions and we share the progress. The last zoom session is at 3:30PM so that we can wrap up, see how far people got on and I’ll make sure everyone knows how to continue. And of course they will have the videos afterwards to guide them.
As for payment, every student has to purchase the class directly from our website as this is the place where they will access the lessons in the future. If there are at least 10 students signing up for the class, the Zoom sessions are then free.
You can check my online courses here. https://www.oliven.co.uk/courses/