Exploring Australia - Material Obsession, Sydney

Have you heard of Kathy Doughty?  An American living in Sydney, Australia, Kathy is a quilter, pattern designer, fabric designer, book author, teacher and Sydney fabric store owner.  I highly suspect that many of you reading this have made at least one quilt designed by her. 

Over the years, I've lost count of how many students have brought along quilts to work on at my support classes that are designed by Kathy, instantly recognisable, playing with the use of colour, scale and print - I LOVE THEM.  When I worked at The City Quilter, I also had the pleasure of meeting Kathy several times at her trunk shows or when she was teaching at the store.  Here's a pic from one such meeting back in 2014 (click here to read the original blog post).

When I headed out to Australia in March this year, guess what was top of my one day only Sydney sightseeing list?  

Sydney Harbour Bridge?  Sydney Opera House?

No, obviously it was to visit Kathy's fabric store, Material Obsession - though the other two were 2nd and 3rd on my list and I did get to see them too as you can see in the pic below.

I took a cab out to the store early on my first morning.

The Entrance

Climbing the steps, even the entrance is inviting and while I was visiting the girls hung out a newly made quilt sample at the door - can you spot it below?  It's NYC Metro Modern Quilters Guild founder Victoria Findlay Wolfe's Star Storm quilt. I have that pattern and I'm excited to make it myself.

 

The store is actually a traditional Australian house with numerous rooms where the fabrics are displayed.

And, yay, Kathy was in the store so we got to catch up again #quiltyfriendsarethebest

The Back Room

We'll start at the back of the store in the room - the balcony has a fabulous lacework balustrade.

So much fabric.  All your fave designers' collections alongside more unusual prints that aren't as well-known, I was incredibly impressed with how well the fabric is curated.

This back room is where I pulled most of the bolts I purchased from.  I worked by eye, based on colour and print, lining my chosen bolts along one wall.  When I finished I discovered many of the fabrics I'd pulled are Kathy's own designs which pleased me no end, and super generously Kathy gifted me the yellow colourway of her Folk Art Revolution Wedding Ring which makes up into this fabulous whole cloth quilt top perfect for experimenting with hand quilting and stitching.

The Corridor

This is a great display area for large quilts and there's more fabric lining the wall.

Inspiration and aspiration!

Classroom

The classroom is downstairs, Kathy took me down and introduced me to everyone but I didn't take any pics as there was a class going on.

Always wanted to try applique?  There are samples to drool over and ready-made kits at every turn.

Middle Room

 

 

Front Room/Entrance

Kaffe Fassett ribbon and Sue Spargo Eleganza #8 Perle embroidery thread.

Such a fun and welcoming store and staff.  There's so much to look at and colour everywhere, I kept walking through the rooms seeing something new each time.  It would be incredibly easy to lose a few hours here.

Lol, I accidentally took a pic of Kathy's skirt but sharing it as it really is such a great skirt 😍

What Did I Buy?

My purchases are, fabric yardage, a pack of Sue Spargo Eleganza Perle #8 embroidery cotton.

I asked Kathy what I could buy at the store that I can't get hold of in the States and she suggested a Bonwick 14" quilting hoop (from Emu Plains).  We also had a chat about wearing thimbles when hand quilting - Kathy does and I don't so I picked up her recommended thimble to see if I can become a convert.  I do use a rubber grip to pull my needle and Kathy gave me a great tip to use a banker's finger turned inside-out which I've bought back at home and LOVE.

And here's the usual social media and contact info for Material Obsession:

Material Obsession

72 Roseby Street

Drummoyne NSW 2047 (Sydney)

Tel: +61 (0)2 9819 6455

Hours:

Mon-Sat: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm

Sun: Closed 

website / classes / events / online shop / bom / facebook / store's instagram / Kathy's instagram / blog / newsletter / email

GETTING THERE

Material Obsession is approx an 11-minute cab ride from Sydney Town Hall.  Alternately you can take a 25-minute Paramatta River ferry ride (F3) from Sydney Harbour Circular Quay, under the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Drummoyne Wharf and then a 20-minute walk to the store.  Tip: you can't buy ferry tickets at Drummoyne Wharf you have to use an Opal card - here is the link for more info.  There's also a bus service that takes around 16 minutes from Sydney Town Hall, I didn't use the bus so not 100% certain but I think you'll need an Opal card for that also.  Full transport and trip planner details are available here on the details are available on the NSW transport website.

If you do take the ferry, above is the view from Drummoyne Wharf over to Sydney Harbour (far left).

Disclaimer: 

All photos were taken with permission from a member of staff.  This post is for informational purposes only, no payment or commission is received on click-throughs to links shared.

 Note: I'm an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, on any purchase made by following an Amazon link.

Don't have plans to visit Australia anytime soon?

No problem, here are Amazon links to some of my purchases, and links to some books and stuff by Kathy.

For details of other fabric, yarn, trim and notion stores that I've visited around the world along with the NYC stores I love, exhibitions and events I've attended and wonderful people I've been lucky to meet click the links below or in my sidebar :D

  

Clicking on an image will take you to a new page of crafty goodness :)

Disclosure: 

This post contains Amazon and Craftsy affiliate links for which I am paid commission on click-through purchases (at no additional cost to you). Otherwise, no payment or commission is received for click-throughs to shared links; the post is for informational purposes only and all opinions are my own.  

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Uncredited reproduction of all content, text and images on this site is prohibited. All content, text and images must be credited to Chris Dodsley @made by ChrissieD and include a link back to this site.

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