often skipped stitches can be from the needle hole being a bit off from the hook. You may find with those needles, you need to put the needle in so it's not quite straight forward. It is one of the things recommended for skipped stitches. I don't recall which way to go, one is for shredded thread, the other for skipped stitches. Sometimes you need to do the because of the fabric being quilted too.
I will switch needle size as soon as I have problems. My friend that quilts professionally says she uses mostly 18 and 20 because she's less lightly to have problems no matter what type of backing got sent with the quilt. She says she has to use heavier needles with flannel too. It's likely I won't do as many quilts on the LA in my lifetime than she does in a year.