Long ago, when I’d be machine quilting, I would be going along and BLAM! I would break a needle. Not from hitting a pin but at the moment of running out of bobbin thread. I always guessed this was from a change of movement and from pulling or pushing too much on the needle and hitting the edge of the throat plate.
These days I rarely break a needle while machine quilting unless it’s from accidentally backing up to a safety pin. Oops.
Most of this change is the sewing machine teaching me what it sounds like to have little thread left in the bobbin. This has the extra benefit of stopping sooner, but mostly it prevents broken pieces of needle from flying around.
