It's already too late when you hear the pop but that does it for me too!

Speaking of needles.....when piecing a quilt top, what size needle do you use?

Religiously with every break ....

Titanium needles last way longer than the regular ones. I change when I remember, which sometimes is a LONG time.

every new project for me

On my longarm, I change the needle with each quilt. On my Janome, I change it when I start having problems or hear the popping sound.

guess I am to fussy as I change with each new project and also size according to thread used some require a larger needle eye but I do lots od different things

Something to consider. I was told by my Pfaff service techie not to use titanium needles, because they will do more harm to your machine and bobbin assembly/hook etc. because they don't break. Haven't used one since.

I'm still hoping to make some sort of connection between changing needle and changing blade.

Whenever I need to, which isn't anywhere close to 8 hours of sewing. I might change to a slightly bigger needle when doing actual machine quilting, but after I'm done, I put the same smaller needle back in and put the one I just used, back in my pin cushion. Personally, I think the needle makers say 8 hours, so you'll buy more needles.