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LEHI, Utah – The patchwork of life can form unpredictable patterns. For a woman in Utah County, life felt like everything was coming at a critical juncture.
“My mother taught me to sew when I was seven,” Adana Manookin said, laughing as she folded pieces of fabric. “She let me make all the doll clothes I wanted, so my dolls had a whole wardrobe.”
Manookin studied clothing and fashion in college, with the big dream of becoming a designer.
“Running an institutional laundry is what I ended up doing,†she said.
The future did not quite materialize as she had anticipated.
“I gave up my job at the company with benefits and insurance,†Manookin said.
She had saved enough to take the plunge.
After decades of working for someone else, Manookin decided to go it alone.
“I take a notebook with me when I go to other stores and take notes on the things I like. “
She did some research. She planned. All with the aim of opening his own quilt shop.
“I started looking for buildings and stuff,†Manookin said. “I had one all picked out on Lehi’s Main Street. “
Then the dream collapsed.
“The day I called about it, they said ‘Oh we just made a contract,’†Manookin said. “I felt like someone had hit me. I was like no, it was the perfect place.
This is how Manookin found herself folding fabric in a spare bedroom in her house, kept company by her business partners Daisy and Emma, ​​two little dogs who have a keen interest in keeping an eye on her. .
She opened her own online business called “Sweet Daisy Quilt Shoppe”. But the timing felt like his plans were crumbling at the seams. Only a few months after its start, the pandemic struck.
“What if now, you know, if the whole economy goes south?” Manookin asked, remembering the worries that ran through his mind. “What if people stop quilting?” What if.”
“What if” was going as she wanted. Sales have exploded.
“In March of this year, they doubled,†Manookin said. “For six months in a row, he kept doubling.”
She believes the pandemic has worked in her favor as people were looking for activities they could work on at home.
Packing pre-matched fabric bundles has become a global business.
“I ship to Canada a lot, and for some reason Australia is a very popular place to ship,†Manookin said.
From doll clothes to the clothes delivered underneath, Manookin has woven a story of triumph – and says it’s never too late to find a way to weave a life doing what you love.
“If I had to make the same decision again, I hope I would have made it sooner,†she said.
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