Iris ran out of sewing steam after piecing the blocks. So I sashed and completed the quilt top while she did her homework. Then we sandwiched the quilt together. I did the quilting. The Bernina walking foot did a fantastic job on the straight areas. I am still learning how to free-motion quilt using the BSR attachment. I think that the irregular jags are due to operator error. The fourth side looks much better than the first. ;-)
This is supposed to be a feather.
[In CA, new mothers can get up to 4 weeks off before their due date and 6 or 8 weeks after the birth (depending upon whether it was a vaginal or c-section delivery) and collect disability pay. Many employers, mine included, supplement the disability to the full salary. Fathers collect state disability to take the mothers or new baby to doctors' appointments and such. When people complain about CA's high tax rates, this is because we are paying for family-friendly policies like this. It takes money. You don't get something for nothing.]
Not to be pedantic, but... I think disability actually comes from payroll tax, not income tax. So if you are living in California but not working (and therefore not able to claim disability), you don't pay into the system. I like to think of it, and the related Paid Family Leave system, as required insurance policies more than taxes.
ReplyDeleteI took 3 months off and worked an additional month part time for my recent maternity leave. I also went out about 2.5 weeks ahead of my due date because of increasingly frequent prodomal labor contractions. I did not receive full pay for any of that time, but did get paid some percentage of my salary for all of it. I had to fill out:
1. The state disability form. This included a section for my doctor.
2. My company's private disability insurance form, which also included a section for my doctor. (They later required an additional photocopy of my chart from the doctor to pay my benefits for the 2.5 weeks ahead of my due date- they didn't tell me about this ahead of time, so this required a return visit to the doctor.)
3. My initial request for paid family leave.
4. Two additional time sheets for paid family leave to cover lost hours during the month I worked part time.
Plus, of course, the "maternity leave plan" my company needed.
My month of part time work was January. Now, at the end of February, I'm still waiting for my PFL check for January.
It blows my mind that I'm supposed to be grateful for all of this. I long for a system where you fill out only one form and where people don't tell me I'm lucky for drawing on benefits that I paid into.
But I won't rant here. I agree with the basic point of your last paragraph! Best wishes to your coworker who is having a baby!
Beautiful quilt.
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