Tiling a Tub Surround

I have been so busy tiling. I am such an perfectionist when tiling which makes the whole process go rather slowly. I have the drywall knife that I run over each tile while setting them to make sure they are all flush and there is this little problem where the tiles are not the same size. You will find that if you tile NO tiles are shaped exactly the same. This is because they cut them then bake them and depending on where that tile is in the oven they will shrink. some more than others. You can buy tiles that are cut after they are baked and they are all the same size but I assure of this you will pay a whole lot more for them. So in the meantime until they find a better way and fix this little problem that wreakes havoc on my perfectionism I will continue to try and match each one as closely as I can.

Here is what I am accomplishing
very slowly

I just laid this out on the floor and that tile with the crack is not going on the wall. Its just there because It was ridiculously hard to take another marble piece out of the box because the supplier sprays foam all around the tiles. That piece of travertine will go on the edge around the tub.

I want to incorporate some of these somewhere in the area but they are handmade and they do not have a very high water rating so they will have to go up near the ceiling. They are crackled glass and handmade and expensive so they will definitely have to be broken down in some way so I can make they go a long way.

But this weekend I have to Paint a new door and put trim around it so this means no tiling. Looks like this project is going to take longer than I thought.