For me silk ribbon is not just a bit of detail on my quilts, it is a major component.  Because so many of my prairie quilts are close up views of flowers, grasses and birds -- I really make use of silk ribbon to give the look I want.

 

Even on larger quilts I love combining the two to create quilts with lots of elaborate embroidery.  To help the ribbon be substantial enough to work well with applique, I developed a layering technique I call "building a strand".  This means I combine three stitches in three shades of green along the same line.  Going over and over to layer the ribbon.  This gives me a background for applique flowers that can then also be further detailed with silk ribbon.  A great example of this is the central motif of my quilt "Ceilteach Circles".  The design originated with a picture of a Hungarian tablecloth I saw in a book.  The circular design appealed to me and  creating a circular strand to overlay with applique flowers was lots of fun.

 

Because silk ribbon drapes so beautifully simple stitches just look like real flowers.  This means that by just playing with simple ideas and combinations I come up with lovely little pieces which look very planned, but in reality are just following a few ideas.  What that allows me to do it really play with the colors.   I often enjoy using variagated ribbons to get a dappled affect which gives even more reality to the pieces.