silk ribbons

i went home to austin this weekend
it was really, really wonderful.
i met my dad's ladyfriend, mary, and she's incredible.
she used to make these gorgeous woven textiles out of silk ribbons, and sometimes using metallic thread with real gold and silver woven in.
they are unreal.
but it was even better because she and my dad and i obviously all love making things, so she brought me to her house and we took out all her boxes of leftover silk ribbons that she had imported from china and japan.
they were packaged so beautifully - as disks with a lovely paper center.
we spent the morning respooling them and thinking about all the different things you could make with so many ribbons.
she let me take two huge bags home with me to new york
i think i want to mummify a wooden chair or a lamp base in silk ribbons.
i think i'm also going to use some of the ribbons as embroidery on my quilt.

she also had a box of silk flowers
i want to make a rug out of them.

silk ribbons from china

real gold braided thread

our morning's work