The scallop has become a recurring motif in the quilts I have finished ever since I got my Bernina 20, a sit-down long-arm machine. What started as one little experiment has somehow turned into one of my favorite quilting motifs. I keep coming back to it, but every time I do, I seem to find a slightly different way to use it. I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the quilts I have quilted with scallops and show you just how different this one simple shape can look.

And, there is another theme that seems to run across all of these quilts: Me, up against a deadline. 😂 Apparently, nothing inspires me to try something new quite like knowing I need to finish a quilt.

#1: My First Attempt at Ruler Work

Let’s start with my second attempt at scallop quilting.

This was my first dark-background quilt, and I ended up gifting it to my mom. I love how the colors pop against that black background. While I was making this quilt, I also volunteered at a booth for Quilts for a Cause at a local quilt show. Of course, I couldn’t just work the show without wandering around and looking at all the quilting goodies!

That’s where I discovered quilting stencils.

I was intrigued and promptly bought WAY too many stencils and the pounce chalk to go along with them. I decided this was going to be the perfect way to finish the quilt I was working on. At the time, I was a Michael Miller Maker, and I had a deadline for a blog post. I had seen a demonstration of the stencils at the quilt show and thought, This is going to be easy!

Spoiler alert: It was not easy and I didn’t love it.

I had trouble getting the chalk completely off the black fabric, and in some of the areas with colored fabric, it was difficult to see the chalk well enough to follow the design. So, with the deadline getting closer, I did what any good quilter does. I pivoted.

Years ago, I won a set of quilting rulers from Janome, and one created scallops, so I decided to give that a try. I loved the look!

The problem was that ruler work took a LONG time, and my squirrel brain was starting to go crazy. So I ended up combining ruler work with free-motion scallops.

Some were done with the ruler, and some were quilted freehand. It wasn’t perfect, but I finished it before the deadline, and I was happy with that.

Looking back, though, this quilt was actually pretty important in my quilting journey. Experimenting with free-motion scallops gave me the confidence to keep playing with the motif.

Learn more about Garden Star 5.

#2: Garden Star — Tall, Narrow Scallops

For this quilt, I wanted something a little more elegant.

I made the prettiest quilt for my nephew’s baby girl, using a mixture of pinks and greens to create a twin-sized version of my Garden Star 6 quilt.

For the quilting, I used tall, narrow, hill-like scallops. Then I echoed each scallop three times. The result created this beautiful, almost Art Nouveau-inspired pattern. I think this might be my favorite free motion quilting I have ever done.

It is amazing to me how changing the proportions of the scallop or echoing a stitch can completely change the way the quilting turns out. 

See more about the Garden Star 6 Quilt here.

#3: The Ghastlies — Almost Clams

Oh my goodness. This quilt has been in the works for SO MANY YEARS. I originally started it as a throw quilt. It even had some darker green fabric in it.

Then it sat.
And sat.
And sat some more.

Eventually, I pulled it back out, unstitched the dark green sections, added more blocks, and decided to make it big enough for my queen-sized bed. The pattern is my Confetti Quilt, available for free in my shop. I have always been obsessed with The Ghastlies, so I am ridiculously excited that I finally get to see this quilt every day on my bed.

For the quilting, I decided to do almost clamshells. These scallops are wider and shorter than the ones I used on Garden Star, and I added two or three echoes around the edge, leaving the center clear of stitching. Again, same basic shape. However, for this quilt, the scallops are not in rows; they go in all different directions.

Creating a completely different look.

#4: Drift — Scalloped Feathers

With my Gingiber Drift, I wanted to get a little more custom with the quilting. I quilted the background in swirls and used a scalloped feather effect on the birds. For this one, I started with smaller scallops near the head and gradually made them longer as they moved toward the wings.

I love how this turned out!

The soft pinks against the gray are so pretty, and I love that the quilting motif actually becomes part of the design of the bird rather than just filling the space.

The Drift Quilt in Gingiber Fabrics.

#5: Lucky Stripes — Less Is More

For Lucky Stripes, I wanted to recreate the feeling of the Garden Star quilting, but with a slightly more relaxed look. I used the tall scallops again, but instead of echoing every single one multiple times, I made the echoing much more sporadic.

Some of the scallops don’t have any echoing at all.

This was a good reminder that sometimes you don’t need to quilt every space or repeat the same motif over and over. A little breathing room can make the quilting stand out even more.

And this is the quilt I’ll be teaching on the Perfect Day Quilting Cruise with Stitchin’ Heaven in April 2027.

So if you’ve ever wanted to learn how I use this type of quilting on my quilts, you’ll get to see it up close — and then try your hand at it yourself!

See more about the Lucky Stripes Quilt here.

#6: Moon Spell — Simple Scallops, Lots of Texture

For Moon Spell, I went back to basics. I quilted smaller scallops with no echoing.

That’s it.

The small scallops create texture without competing with the design of the quilt, and when you see the quilt in person, there is texture EVERYWHERE.

See more about the Moon Spell Quilt here.

#7: The One That Started It All — My Domestic Machine

Okay, technically, this one came before my sit-down long arm. This wall hanging was the beginning of my scallop obsession. I created it for a Riley Blake blog post, and the wall hanging is actually a tutorial that you can find on my website. I quilted this one on my domestic sewing machine.

At the time, I was still figuring out what I could actually do with my machine and how far I could push my free-motion quilting. That led me to custom quilting, where I change stitching in different pieced areas. I quilted tiny clams in the light pink area, and it was then and there that I fell in love with the clam shell and quilting. I love how the different motifs looked in the different areas. 

Make your own Pretty Pansy wall hanging.

#8: Lines of Scallops

I just finished this quilt over the weekend! Its focal point is a chicken coop from Gingiber’s new fabric line, Hen House. It was the perfect opportunity to try out a different type of scallop quilting I had wanted to create.

I decided on smaller scallops, keeping them in rows with a little breathing room between each row. This spacing allows you to avoid traveling over your previous stitches, which can sometimes be tricky, making this one of the easiest scallop quilting designs to try!

I also love the texture this design creates! Even though the rows don’t connect, there’s an optical illusion that they do. This happens because the subtle shadow created by the quilting stitches continues toward the next stitch line, making the scallops appear longer with less work.

I’m planning to take photos of the finished quilt this week so I can share more about it, including the quilting design, here on the blog next week. Stay tuned!

Quilting Scallops: One Motif, So Many Possibilities

Looking at all of these quilts together, I think that’s what keeps me coming back to scallops.

They are simple enough to be approachable, but there are so many ways to change them.

You can make them:

• Tall and narrow
• Wide and shallow
• Small and tight
• Big and loose
• Echoed
• One simple stitch line
• Used as the foundation of another design
• Combined with other quilting
• Quilted with a ruler
• Quilted freehand

If you look closely at my Lucky Stripes quilt, you might notice something…
Something is missing. 👀

Later this month, I will spill the secret.

See you next week!