Needle breakage is the least of your problems. I don't normally sew over pins, but I missed one once, hit it directly on, and it broke a part in my Bernina that doesn't normally break. My machine was down for a month waiting for a $3.50 part. Seriously, that was MY cost, not the vendor's. On that same quilt, made 8 years ago, and quilted about that long ago, sat on, washed, sat on some more, slept under - I just found a pin a month ago between the top and the batting. PULL THOSE PINS!!!