laxsupermom - I think you hit it right on the head. He told my dad that he couldn't place them on the diagonal because there wasn't much room and he could only put very little glue on the backs - - but that doesn't make any sense right? They would stick the same no matter which direction you put them in. He didn't estimate the quantity accurately and then he got lazy and just stuck them in a different pattern. *update* I just spoke with his wife and she said that his reasoning was that you need more glue to put them on the diagonal and there is very little room to the right of the stove - does that sound right to anyone? Also - turns out the check I gave him was made out to his father's business......he wanted one written directly to him so he hasn't cashed it and now at least I have the leverage that he hasn't been paid yet. Sounds like they are going to work with me to get this done right. Whew.

Okay, I have to say, you guys are AWESOME! @remodelfla - looks like that eBay seller is the same as the Amazon seller -Oracle, and the same price. Will have to check on whether shipping makes the difference. Just got notice that the sample has shipped so hope to get it this week. Trikeenan is out and Sea Turtles are in - love the glass but had to decide quickly and the turtles spoke to me (the Honu is sort of our family emblem). @fouramblues - that is the post I was looking for, and you got the name of the tile, too - Yay! (somehow "Bell" turned into "Beth" in my mind overnight - no wonder I couldn't find it). I think my flooring is American Olean so that was interesting....will research that tile when I get back on the desktop - search limited on iPad here. And I'm not sure what makes it "rustic" - mostly interested in low color variation (the "camel" looks like far too much) and the tile sizing/pattern - random, and more honed, smooth. But not polished/glossy. And not pitted. Interesting, but not to overpower the turtles. And I should mention, the backsplash on the other side of the kitchen is just under 3" tall and abut 20' long, so we don't want to cut a zillion tiles to fit, so multi-width will certainly make that easier. I was just at Home Depot buying dripper irrigation supplies and saw an interesting one called Bamboo something that I had seen online a few places in my search - it's all 1/4" strips and $15sf, but I get a military discount there and it's in stock. Thank you for all the help! Open to more ideas!

I've snipped glasstile mosaic but it's hard to get a sharp edge... unless there's something I don't know that I could do it better! You could just cut a single row and then you'll only have a 1/2" gap. It might then be easier to find a liner.

I'd suggest going over to the stained glass and mosaics forum and asking there. I have lurked over there and seen folks make polymer tiles to use in mosaic pieces. From what little I know about them, I would think they'd be fine, but I would seal them. I just went and searched the FAQs at the Sculpey site -- you bake at 250-275 degrees, and they say you can bake longer BUT NOT HOTTER (sounds like the clay can darken). You would not want to put those too close to the burners on your cooktop or where large pots might hold a lot of heat close to them. They have have more different types of clays that I've ever seen (my boys played with it when they were younger) -- some of the types might be better suited than others. Here is a link that might be useful: Sculpey info