Q&A with Heather Givans: Crimson Tate owner builds following by designing fabric, quilts

Generations of sewists, from high school students to retirees, shop at Crimson Tate: Modern Quilter.

Owner Heather Givans says the public’s interest in making quilts has remained strong since she opened her Mass Ave shop 13 years ago.

According to the intermittent survey Quilting in America, the industry grew from a value of $3.6 billion in 2010 to $4.5 billion in 2022.

“I think that interest still exists, plus the notion or the idea that as adults we can create or craft something that is an expression of ourselves,” Givans said. “It’s a way to alleviate stress or a way to occupy our minds in a different facet than looking at your phone or being engulfed in television.”

Givans contributes to modern quilting culture by designing fabrics and authoring instructions for quilt patterns. Her signature fabric designs, inspired by topics such as books and hiking, have been distributed worldwide by New Jersey-based Windham Fabrics since 2015. Meanwhile, her 19 quilting and craft patterns are sold under the Crimson Tate brand.

At the Crimson Tate shop, 845 Massachusetts Ave., the staff is made up of one full-time employee—Givans—and 11 part-time employees. Givans estimates that half of the store’s sales are made in-person and half are made online. The Heather Givans Fabrics line accounts for about 10% to 15% of Crimson Tate sales, she said.

Givans talked with IBJ about her introduction to quilting, how she connected with Windham Fabrics and the origin of the Crimson Tate name.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Is it accurate that you planned to open a different type of store than what Crimson Tate became?

Yes, I thought it would be a cottage-industry sewing business where customers could purchase materials for their projects. But the quilting community in Indianapolis is pretty prolific. As soon as I opened the door, it was evident there was a need for the aesthetic and the type of fabrics I was working with. It became a retail store for fabric straightaway.

How did you decide this would be your career?

I’m a printmaker and an illustrator; that’s what I have a degree in. I taught high school art. My mom [Cathy Givans] wanted to learn to quilt, and I thought, “I don’t want to do that. That’s not what I do.” But I’m a good daughter who took her to Camp Tecumseh, which has a quilt camp for adults. I thought I would make a bag or something while she learned to quilt. Well, I loved it. I found that quilting really worked with the way I think creatively because it’s a good hand-holding of the mathematical and the improvisational. The two together is what I love. I like to make a mess, and I like to clean it up.

What’s the most challenging part of being a business owner?

It’s a lot of work. It just doesn’t ever end. My mind can never stray too far. In those moments when I think, “I just want a break,” it will be, “Oh, but we could do this.” I create some of that, for sure. But it’s always going.

Do you have a “CEO coach” or a mentor?

Kristin Kohn of Silver in the City has been an amazing resource and coach/mentor to me, definitely in moments when I’m feeling like, “What?” Several businesses on Mass Ave function like that for each other, but Kristin has been the biggest help.

In your role as fabric designer, do you have an agent or a representative who helps you connect with companies?

I don’t. I kind of fell into designing fabric, which then propelled the creation of these patterns. I went to a quilt market, which is the trade show for the quilt industry, in Portland, Oregon, and I happened to get on the tram at the same time as the owner of Windham Fabrics. He said, “Hey, do I know you?” I said, “Oh, I am Crimson Tate.” He said, “Can I pick your brain?” This was a 15-minute or 20-minute ride, and we just got along famously. We talked about a lot of things, and I appreciated him asking my opinion.

That conversation ended with him saying, “If you ever need anything, please let me know. I’m happy to help.” I said, “Well, actually, I would love the opportunity to design fabric.” That’s really where it all began.

How are your fabric designs related to your quilting patterns?

Each time I design a collection of fabric, I typically try to also create one to two new quilting or craft patterns that will go with the fabric. One of the patterns I’ve made is a bookshelf quilt called Personal Library, and it’s probably the most popular pattern I’ve written. When I designed the [Literary] fabric collection, I knew what I needed to make sense in the pattern.

I’m in a great position to be able to design the fabric that will fit appropriately to the specific pattern, although it can be made from more than just the fabrics I design.

Are the newest fabric designs the top sellers?

Yes, and that’s kind of how the fabric industry works: Things are here for a very short time, and then they go away. Some basic solids are reorderable, but typically, special collections—and in particular designer collections—are available for one season. So when this cute “whatever” comes out, you need to get it or it will be gone.

What inspires your designs?

All of my collections of fabric have been about things that are important to me or things that I love. The first collection was called Succulents, which is about plants. The second one was called Paper Obsessed, which was all about office supplies. One was called Night Hike, which was about my time as a summer camp counselor at Camp Tecumseh. Pencil Club hearkens back to being an art teacher. And my most recent ones are Pen Pals and Dot to Dot.

When someone buys a quilting pattern, what are they buying?

It depends on the pattern, of course, but really what you’re buying are instructions—instructions on how to put something together and also how to put it together in multiple sizes. Most of the patterns I create scale from a crib-size quilt up to a king-size quilt. All of the math is done for you.

Does technology affect your work?

I’m a little old-school. There are programs that people utilize to create quilt patterns. It’s an industry-specific software that people might use. But I am a pencil-on-paper person, and I like to figure out the math of it.

What’s the origin story of the Crimson Tate name?

When I was in college, I created a series of illustrations about a girl who took over the world, and I named her Crimson Tate. She comes from my love of art, because of the paint color alizarin crimson, and art history, because of the Tate Modern art museum in London. I have all these illustrations about her and her adventures.

When I wanted to open the store, everyone’s advice was, “Oh, no—it needs to be something much more obvious, like The Needle and Thread or The Empty Bobbin” to relate to sewing. I said, “I want it to have a personality,” and I also wanted to be able to morph and change however I need to morph and change.•