Amanda Lattavo Berkeley owns and operates The Quilting Bea in Massillon.
The shop was voted No. 1 in Ohio in the 2026 By Annie Local Quilt Shop contest. She only recently began quilting when she ordered her first sewing machine on Amazon and watched YouTube to learn how to piece and quilt.
Berkeley, 51, grew up in the Canton area and still resides in Jackson Township with her husband, Doug Berkeley, and their two daughters, Samantha and Emma, who are in middle school. The family has a cat named Delly-V-Dova — it was adopted during the Cavaliers’ championship season in 2016 — and a boxer-mix dog named Willow.
She graduated from Central Catholic High School and holds three degrees, a bachelor’s in business economics from The College of Wooster, a master’s in accountancy from Kent State University, and a Master of Business Administration from University of Maryland Global Campus.
“I spent 25 years in corporate accounting, working for companies such as Kenan Advantage Group, Timken and TimkenSteel, Securitas ES, and The Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Co. before effectively retiring to open this shop with my mother,” Berkeley said.
“I’ve only been quilting for five and a half years; I started when my mother and I randomly decided to open a quilt shop. Prior to that, I hadn’t sewn since home economics class in high school. I have always been fascinated by the art of quilting; however, my siblings and I each have a quilt that our grandmother made for us, and my mother has quilts that her grandmother made for her. I still have the first quilt I made to remind me of how far I’ve come.
“Plus, I have always had a love for art, and to be able to create textile art in the form of a quilt, a collage, and other such formats is a treasure. Sharing this passion and this business with my mother and working with her every day is a rare, amazing experience that we both truly enjoy. It makes me feel connected to my maternal ancestors, who were all quilters, and I think my Gramma Mangum, my mother’s mother, would get a real kick out of the modern tools we have today, not to mention my 12-foot Gammill Statler longarm machine.”
When did you turn your favorite hobby into a business?
I did not know how to sew, and definitely not how to quilt, before we decided to open the shop. During the holidays, Christmas 2020, my mother was showing me her latest quilt collage and complaining that the last local quilt shop in the area that carried modern fabrics was relocating and would no longer carry fabric.
She mentioned that, “If I were 10 years younger, I’d open my own quilt shop.” And I looked at her and said well, then let’s do it. I’ll quit my job, learn to quilt, and we’ll open a shop. I can run the website and systems and get it all set up — we just need a space and fabric.
Three days later, we decided we were serious and started hatching our plan. I made some notes on common quilt lingo so I could “talk the talk,” and Mom recommended a couple YouTube channels for me. The rest is history.
Besides products, what services does your business offer?
In addition to quilt fabric, which is premium 100% cotton, and related patterns and notions, we also offer a longarm service, which is the actual “quilting” of a quilt.
We are in the process of putting our classes online with corresponding kits — our Pumpkin Collage class, for example. We also have numerous free tutorials available on our YouTube channel and TikTok. We’ve even been known to provide a private lesson as needed for a particular project, for customers who need extra assistance.
You also produce cartoon-style YouTube videos called “Epic Adventures with the Quilting Bea Crew.” How and why did you start doing the videos?
I love making cartoons and am in the middle of making a new one right now. I use a variety of applications, including AI, ImagineArt Image Studio and Capcut. My brother Michael, who owns Atlas Testing next door to us, actually started making cartoons before I did and put them on TikTok. I loved his cartoons but quickly decided that I could also make cartoons — but better. We maybe have a little sibling rivalry, and it just took off!
They are based on real-life events or products in the store, as well as family favorites. My mother and I love Phantom of the Opera — the inspiration for Phantom Stitch, and it’s turned into a fun, creative outlet.
You and your mother work together on a regular basis, and both of you seem to love what you do. What other traditions do you have that you celebrate together?
I have a tendency to pick up whatever it is that Mom gets into — so we have been known to scrapbook in the past, as well as cartonnage, the French art of box making, and lately we both enjoy watercolor painting.
Mom and I have an ongoing gin game, and almost everyone in my family plays mah-jongg in person and online. We also share a love for cooking. I’m working on a project that combines modernized pattern versions of our legacy quilts from my Gramma Mangum and her mother, Ma Beckham, plus my Gramma’s favorite recipes. Did I mention Mom and I share a love for writing and editing?
It appears you keep busy. As such, at what time of the day, morning, afternoon or evening, do you feel the most productive?
I am an early bird — I like to get up before anyone else in the house, with my first alarm going off at 4:45 a.m. I either take some time for a hot bath and some reading, or get a jump start on the day’s to-do list. I try to get to the shop no later than 8:30 in the morning to get things ready there, and then I just don’t stop!
We close at 3 p.m., so I can run online orders to the post office and then meet my girls home from school, then it’s two or three more hours of work before I try to stop for the evening. Since my first alarm goes off at 4:45 a.m., I’m not a night owl!
Editor’s note: Five questions with … is a Sunday feature that showcases a member of the Stark County community. If you’d like to recommend someone to participate, send an email to newsroom@cantonrep.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Meet Amanda Lattavo Berkeley. She helps people quilt and sew
Reporting by Patricia Faulhaber, Special to the Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Patricia Faulhaber, Special to the Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
