Wow did Michael ever come to my rescue this week. I've been quilting for others now for a full year adn when I took in a lap quilt from a new customer on Monday I thought I would have a nice easy job. She picked a simple pantograph and I thought I'd have it all finished in an evening.

The first pass went easy as could be, but mid-way through the second pass I was having spots where gobs of thread were being laid down. The machine quilted about 15" of width before I discovered the problem. I thought that the machine didn't sound right and the top looked great so I looked underneath. After I picked this thread out, I tried sewing on a scrap piece adn sure enough I was getting rats nest spots.

It was now after 11pm on Monday night but I called Michael anyway. He suggested a few different things which I was going to try. A few minutes later he called me back asking for pictures of the needle to see if the timing was ok and the postion of the finger. Sure enought the position finger was way too far in . It was now 2am EST and Micheal was still there for me!

In the morning, I got my hubby to loosen the postion finger and together we got it set so that it was barely in the little slot. The gobs of thread were now gone but I now had some long thread loops unerneath. I only discovered the long thread loops after quilting the second half of the second row too. UGH! The fabric in this quilt is flannel on the back side and a top that I don't belive is 100% cotton. It is heavier and denser than 100% cotton. I realized this after picking out so many miles of thread. 

Another few calls to Michael (again rather late in the eveing) and a few more adjustments to the tension knobs and the quilting looks wonderful. the quilt came off the frame tonight. Finally.

What great service!

Thanks you Michael!

I bought my Innova from Teryl after learning on 2 different machines and trying many others. I love how easy it is to care for (it doesn't need as much oil as the Gammill I had rented at a LQS-therefore no "diaper" for oil) as well as how light in comparison to some others like the Gammill. I had a class at Road 2 California last year and we used Gammills in class. It felt like I really had to muscle it in comparison to my Innova. I bought a 26" with LS, since I tend to make large quilts and like to be able to quilt a larger area. I will be able to quilt my large (~18 ") on point blocks without having to roll the quilt.

I prefer to do pantos and freehand rather than computer, so I can't give you any personal opinion on the AutoPilot, since the LS is the only computerized part of my Innova. Teryl and John are wonderful and very helpful. Jason is also great.

Dear Kandy and Neal,

I have had my Innova long arm quilting machine here in Basel Switzerland for over a year now and wanted to write to let you know how pleased I have been with the investment.  There is always a quilt loaded in the machine and each quilt gives me a new experience to help perfect my quilting.  The lessons I took last June from Teryl Lloy were an invaluable start!

I have been wondering if you do any shows in Europe.  The Carrefour Europeen du Patchwork in Sainte Marie aux Mines France is a huge show every September.  This year its Sept . 12-15.  It may be too late to consider it at this time but possibly for future years.  This is a HUGE show spanning 4 rural villages and has a several retail tents.  The show is held in the Alsace region of France which is right at the intersection of France, Germany and Switzerland.  People come for days from all over France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands for this show.  I did not see you at the show last year but I would highly recommend you consider showing the Innova at this show in the future if at all possible.

I also wondered if I can be of any service to you as an Innova representative here in Europe as I live in the center of the continent and most places are not that far of a train ride or drive for me.  I am very sold on your product and would be honored to represent it.

Please let me know if I can be of any service to you in this regard.

Best Regards,

Again, ABM International demonstrated their great customer support. After I reported, on the Yahoo group, my problem with the needle overshooting and staying in the fabric when I stopped, Michael called ME and talked me through fixing it. All fixed.

I'm sure glad I don't have to lug my 18" Innova in for service all the way to Texas!!!! Or any where else, for that matter.

Thanks again, ABM International for a great machine and great customer support.

Michael -- it was so fantastic that you were available to answer my call today. Once you helped Aimee find the bracket under the carriage that was hanging up the motion, she saw a big improvement in the Innova's responsiveness and ease of movement. However, it was still not where she expected it to be but she sounded convinced it was something peculiar about my machine. She said she was still very much interested in the Innova and will either go down to Amy Hunter's shop in Kansas City and try hers or wait until the Omaha Quilt Show when I believe Amy Hunter has a booth (I am checking on that).

The reason she is looking to switch from her A-1 to something else is that she has had so many maintenance issues and is not happy with customer service -- they have changed out the head three times and they still can't find the problem. I told her that would never happen with an Innova and then you proved that ABM customer service is the greatest. She was impressed. I will be at Paducah in April and will try free-motion on the show machines to see if I can tell the difference. Since I am doing all computer quilting, I don't have a problem. But if the Innova dealers want to send potential Omaha area customers to me for a hands-on trial, I need to make sure the machine works well.

Thanks,