Leaving on a jet plane

Tomorrow I leave South Africa, flying back up to the northern hemisphere summer. Yesterday I saw two big groups of flamingos flying over my roof in the classic V shape. By the time I had grabbed my camera they had gone. Sorry. If any more come over I will try to be more prepared.  So thanks to 'MarioM' for posting this picture on wikimedia commons, (free for all to use). These curious birds are perhaps even more fascinating to observe from below than when they are treddling, heads down, in the shallow water. Their huge wings are black on the underside - not the pink you might expect, and their long gangly legs and necks stretch right out, front and back. They also make quite a lot of noise - had they not I might have missed them. I think they are leaving too - heading north to warmer places.

Picture courtesy of MarioM, wikimedia commons

To prepare for the trip I have obviously packed my suitcases full of my sketchbooks, art supplies, finished quilts  and the new thingamajig I have concocted to help making stitching on the plane easier. You may recall I experienced a little turbulence on the last plane trip I took and ended up spending too much time stopping my quilt-tin from ending up on the floor.

The sketch I drew of my idea on the last trip I took. The only piece of paper I could find on the plane was the (unused) sick bag. Yuk!

And here is what I have made to try out..... pockets for storage, a pincusion and some elastic to attach some bobbins of thread.

So here it is - I will take some pictures to show you how I get along with it, and let you know what refinements are needed once it has been tried and tested. I am just hoping it will fit over the tray table!

Sue's idea: a pocket which I can attach to the tray or other fixed surface. A magnet inside will hopefully stop the tin from moving about.

I also need to thank a lady named Sue who follows my blog, who came up with a great idea. She suggested I made a small fabric bag with a magnet inside and stitch this to a piece of elastic with a popper at each end. This can be stretched around the tray - or other items  - to hold the tin in place.  Sue - I have made one - and am going to try that out too! I did not have any elastic or poppers (they are all packed!) so I used the sleeve of an old shirt, a fridge magnet, a piece of tape and an odd bit of velcro I found in a box. It isn't pretty, but I hope it will be good enough to test the idea.

I'll let you know how it works!

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