Ever wanted to try fuse applied? It's one of the hottest techniques being used by quilters. It's an easy, almost instant way to create fabulous designs for everything from quick crafts to art quilts.

Essentially, you iron a fusible web onto the back of fabric - sort of like melting a very thin sheet of glue. This fuses the fabric fibers into a stable sheet that can be cut out into any shape without it fraying. The shape is then ironed down onto fabric to make your design. There are several brands of lightweight fusible web such as Wonder Under or Misty-Fuse (www.mistyfuse.com) which is the most light-weight fusible available. I recommend using a Teflon sheet to keep the fuse from web gunking up your iron. You can also use parchment paper. Here's how to do it:

#  Cut fabric a little larger than the actual size of the finished shape you want.

#  Teflon Fold sheet in half on the ironing board. Open Teflon sheet and lay the piece of the fabric wrong side up on one half of the sheet.

#  Cut a piece of fusible web the same size as the fabric and lay it on the wrong side of the fabric.

#  Fold over the Teflon sheet so that the fabric is sandwiched between two layers of Teflon sheet.

#  Teflon Iron the sheet for about 4 seconds with a hot, dry iron and let cool for a few seconds.

# Open pressing sheet and peel off the fused fabric. The fusible web is now melted into the fabric.

#  Wipe the sheet clean with a small wad of fabric to remove every trace of melted fusible web on the left sheet. This is important - you want to keep the sheet clean.

#  Draw the desired shape on the reverse side of the fabric or cut free hand with a sharp scissors. Make sure that there are no little "fringes" of fuse showing around the edge as these will stick to your iron. A product such as ' Hot Iron cleaner' is useful to clean off any bits of fuse that you inevitably get onto iron.

Your shape is now ready to iron down into place. If your design is applied fuse used on a quilt that will be washed, finish off the edges with machine stitches. If it's for a wall hanging that will not be washed, the edges of your fusible applied shapes can be left with out stitches.

NOTE: To preserve the life of your Teflon sheet, avoid ironing on the fold. Repeated folding with a sharp crease will cause the fiberglass to snap. Store it flat or rolled.

In agriculture, permethrin is mainly used on cotton, wheat, maize, and alfalfa crops, and is also used to kill parasites on chickens and other poultry. It’s extensively used in Europe as a timber treatment against wood boring beetle (woodworm). Its use is controversial since, as a broad-spectrum chemical, it kills indiscriminately; as well as the intended pests, it can harm beneficial insects including honey bees, aquatic life, and small mammals such as mice.

Recently, in South Africa, residues of permethrin were found in breast milk, together with DDT, in an area that experienced DDT treatment for malaria control, as well as the use of pyrethroids in small-scale agriculture.

Permethrin is toxic to cats and many cats die each year after being given flea treatments intended for dogs, or by contact with dogs who have recently been treated with permethrin.

Permethrin is also used in healthcare, to eradicate parasites such as head lice and mites responsible for scabies, and in industrial and domestic settings to control pests such as ants and termites. However, the British National Formulary states that permethrin has low efficacy in eradicating head lice.

Permethrin kills ticks on contact with treated clothing. According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, it "has low mammalian toxicity, is poorly absorbed through the skin and is rapidly inactivated by the body. Skin reactions have been uncommon." Permethrin is also used on humans for lice or scabies, the common prescription is Pertmethrin with 5% concentration for scabies, and OTC (over the counter) treatment for head lice/crabs is usually permethrin with 1% concentration.

Carbendazim (methyl benzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate) is a systemic benzimidazole fungicide used to control a broad range of diseases on cereals, fruits, cotton, tobacco, turf, ornamentals and vegetables. It is also used in post-harvest food storage, as a seed pre-planting treatment and as a timber treatment fungicide.

In addition to being a fungicide in its own right, carbendazim is a metabolite of thiophanate-methyl. Thiophanate breaks down rapidly in the environment to carbendazim and the use of thiophanate-methyl can lead to residues of carbendazim in treated commodities. The APVMA is conducting concurrent reviews of carbendazim and thiophanate-methyl.

In February 2007 the APVMA began a review of carbendazim because of occupational health and safety, residue and public health concerns. This action was based on advice from the Office of Chemical Safety (OCS) that that exposure to carbendazim and compounds that can form it (namely, benomyl and thiophanate-methyl) could cause developmental abnormalities in experimental animals and hence might pose a potential public and occupational health and safety risk.

The APVMA released the Carbendazim and Thiophanate-methyl Review Scope Document (February 2007) which outlined the information needed to conduct a comprehensive scientific assessment of carbendazim and included a call for public submissions. The period for public comments and the submission of additional information closed on 30 June 2007.

Following the assessment the APVMA will release a preliminary review findings (PRF) report outlining the proposed regulatory arrangements for the future use of carbendazim. There will be a public consultation period providing all members of the community with an opportunity to comment on this report before it is finalised.

Nanjing Essence Fine-Chemical Co., Ltd is an integrated crop protection company which focuses on the manufacturing and formulating of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. We supply high quality carbendazim.