They are great! I can see why you're excited. Can't wait to see how they look in the room.

That site just got added to my favorites. You should post this over in kitchens, too.

Beautiful tiles! I have to say that I'm afraid I would have selected one or two that coordinated, so I'm really curious about the pattern you plan to use for your laundry room. My mom used to make quilts--one she called the sampler--made up of a square of two each of many different designs. Perhaps that's the look you're going for? It will definitely brighten your room.

WOW beautiful tiles. I never would have thought of doing it that way.

I saw those last week on your post - when you still had them on order. I dreamed that night a woman wore a coat in the same pattern. The dream coat was beautiful and those tiles are beautiful.
I just looked up Penelope Syndrome and just got goosebumps. The syndrome has to do with sleep. Hope your little guy is doing well.

Love your floor! Can't wait to see it installed. The laundry room is a great place to do something like this. I wish I had seen your website linked last week. I just did a post on hand painted tiles - using them on kitchen walls and floors. The more patterns, the merrier!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hand Painted Tiles

Prison Pink baseboards....the first on your block! :-)

The tiles are amazing. You are amazing! I can't wait to see it installed.

I am glad you have a dx. That is a huge relief, I know. Something to learn about and tackle, instead of just swimming around in the unknown. So, are you going to Bologna?

rmkitchen-

Those tiles are just so stunning, what an outstanding choice; color, pattern, variation and more color! I look forward to seeing them installed in your laundry room. And now I'm off to research encaustic tiles and dream about where I could put some of them...

Thanks for sharing.

sandyponder

Thank you all for indulging me! I appreciate it v. much. I really do.

The pattern you see in the pic above is how I laid them out -- it'll be my crazy quilt floor. I'm the kind of person who thinks more is more. Instead of looking in the mirror and taking one thing off, I put on another. Give me color and pattern!

I purchased a sad silk / velvet crazy quilt on eBay and with some delicious fat quarters went to town mending, practicing all kinds of fancy stitches. I then had it made into a skirt and that was my "party dress" in December. Just seeing that skirt hanging in my closet makes me smile.

And grazie mille for the nice words about my youngest. After four years of fighting, worrying, confusion, sadness, to finally have a name is thrilling! Somebody understands what is happening to him and is studying it. I haven't needed my Ambien since December 10. Like that (snap of the fingers) I was able to sleep again. He's going to start an anti-seizure medication which will hopefully ameliorate the debilitating electrical attacks he's having and allow him some beneficial sleep, too!

And a special note to my beloved amysrq -- just seeing your screen name brings a smile to my face. I didn't even read your message and I was already grinning. You are such a wonderful person! And yes, to Bologna for the researchers to meet my son and perform some non-invasive tests. I think it's going to be a long relationship, monitoring him and adding info for their research.

Thank you all again for your kind words! xo

Ah, when I saw the tile laid out, I knew you were a quilter- at least at heart! And I love your floor quilt.
It is wonderful that now you have some peace of mind for your son. ambien is wonderful but not as wonderful as real sleep. And can we see your skirt? :)

Yes, I want to see the skirt! It sounds just my speed. :) I am wondering if it was a long or short skirt. I lIVE in long skirts.

I am in love with your tile and just might borrow the idea for my laundry area. :) I think I might need to use ceramic tile though since this is where the litter boxes are. I have to read up on your tiles.

Happy and healing thoughts to you and your DS. I am very happy for you that you have a DX and that you can move forward. the unknown is just so scary.

i love the tiles and pattern! So happy and cheery!!!

I love the tiles. Very cheerful and interesting.

I'd love to see that skirt, too. Sounds like something I love.

Fascinating tiles - your floor will be amazing!

Best of everything as you move foreward with a diagnosis. As a parent, I know there is nothing worse than the unknown. I hope the treatment plan is a great success. Hugs to you.

LOVE THEM! I have a question about tiles. What is the difference between yours and mexican tiles. I found a website, Mexican tiles.com and they have a vast assortment and seem to be a lot cheaper in price.
Can't wait to see your laundry room when finished!

rmkitchen, what a beautiful floor and blessing to know what's wrong with our son so you all can rest assured that there will be answers at last. I hope they all are good ones. God Bless him.

Hi there RMK, what kind words for me. Thank you. I feel truly blessed that we can make such connections here, despite the strangeness of the internet. Concerns can be felt, affections conveyed and friendships formed. Quite something, isn't it?

I want to acknowledge you for having the vision to go to Bologna to avail yourselves of the best out there for your son and to help other families at the same time. It is wonderful that you have the resources, both emotional and material, to make that happen.

Sleep well, my friend.

RM! I haven't been on here in a LONG time but , I hopped back on this week because I'm beginning to put some much needed decorative touches in my house and your tiles caught my eye!
A little over two years ago you helped me out with finding suppliers and fabricators of marble in the Denver area when I was trying to build a house in Evergreen while living in NY.
Well, here I am, happily living in CO and getting ready for round two...kitchen backsplash, window treatments, etc...
I LOVE the tiles you have chosen for your floor! How bold and beautiful they are and they instantly bring a smile to my face :)
I was burnt out from building decisions so, I took a break and thought I'd just enjoy living here for awhile. Now, I am ready to tackle some more of the decorative finishes.
Nice to see you're still on here! I remember reading about your sons seizures back in 2008. Sorry it took so long to get a Dx but, happy to hear that you finally have one.

Brooke, SO happy to hear you finally got a definite diagnosis for Sinjin (I hope I didn't butcher his name!) So glad you're doing so well.

Love your happy tiles so much.

P. S. Please send leftover ambien my way.

Oh, my! Those are just absolutely GORGEOUS!!! I love them! Enjoy those beauties!

I have not been around this board on a regular basis in some time so I'm not aware of the difficulties you and your family have had. However, I am very glad to read that your son has a dx. I am sure that has lifted a big weight off of your shoulders. I hope the best for you & your son.

And yes...I would love to see your party skirt, too!

I was not familiar with your story because I only found the HD part of GW a few months ago. I am glad you got some answers and are getting some truly expert help. Getting that help in Italy will hopefully also give you some good memories of an adventure for your family (and some good eats) in addition to helping your ds. ;)

I love your hex tiles and will be doing very similar when we get to our family bath (assuming we survive the current reno/extension). That had been our plan for our kitchen before we switched to marmoleum.

We also were going to the the tumbling block pattern in your encaustic tiles as a faux rug in our den at one point. I totally love old tiles and patterns and have trolled many architectural salvage sites drooling over old tile. I will make sure to surf over to your new friend's site because one can never see too many beautiful tiles :)
I don't think I am bold enough to do the patchwork design you are doing, but I do know I'd stare at it endlessly and get lost in seeing all the pretty tile in one place. I can see why you love it! I hope it is the start of a lot of good luck for you and your family.

Oh my gosh HELLO all you nice people & familiar names! What an absolute serendipity. My older (fine, neurotypical) son's first grade class is "going to" Japan, so I have spent the evening writing everyone's names in Japanese and getting stuff ready for them. My reward was once I was finished I could come online. Wow wow wow! Now *this* is a reward!

Thank you everyone for the nice words about the tiles, my son and interest in my skirt. I know I am totally self-absorbed prattling on about my son, but it has been a long road and I am t-h-r-i-l-l-e-d! But seriously, working on house stuff, gardening, is an exercise in meditation for me. When I thought I couldn't take another heartbreak or was exhausted (he is a handful!), planning a tile pattern or weeding or whatever helped me breathe easier. I think that's true for a lot of us, no? When this son was 3.5 he lost sensation of / control of (we're not sure) his bowels / urination. He was nearly toilet-trained but poof! it was gone just like that. So back into a diaper and we change his diaper in the laundry room. That's part of what pushed this floor. I needed something chipper in there. He's 4.5, big, strong, and it's getting harder to change his diaper. And once in a while I feel sorry for us about it, hence the mental need to make it a happier room. Things could be worse. A gal in one of my support groups committed suicide because she just couldn't go on being a Special mom anymore. A colleague at the hospital (I'm an ASD Parent Mentor and the Parent Rep on the Board) has a developmentally delayed daughter: she had brain cancer at age 6 and the choice was let her die or have treatment which will result in severe brain damage. Thinking of those literally make me sick to my stomach. Believe me, I know I am frivolous with my floor! But any port in a storm.

The skirt hits in the middle of my knee but maybe I should've made a long skirt, like from the '70s. Oh well! The other skirt I had made at the same time with kuba cloth I've had since the early '90s. It was just sitting in a box and I finally realized "enjoy it!" I think I felt bad about cannibalizing it but I sure do like wearing it.

gingerjars -- I don't know about the Mexican Tiles so I can't really tell you what the differences are. The cement tiles we purchased are ~8" square, really thick (and heavy!), and I'm pretty sure came in ~$10 a square foot. The design isn't painted on but rather is a thick (~1/4") top layer. If the Mexican tiles are Talavera then they're not cement and the design is a glaze; rather, the design is literally painted and then a clear, shiny glaze applied. I am pretty sweet on those Talavera tiles! Cement tiles are laid right next to each other (butt joint), no grout line. Talavera tiles typically have a thick grout line. We've now exhausted my knowledge.

alliern -- of course I remember you! I'm in the exact same boat -- we reached critical mass with our kitchen / most of the house project 2.5 yrs ago. Couldn't think of how to finish plus couldn't afford to finish. Ha ha on us! So now we're going to finish the main level and wait until my waxing-waning depression necessitates our Last Hurdle: our bed / bath. Oh yeah, and if I figure out which bank to rob to pay for that one.

marlene -- What a memory! The name is close (I'll contact you offline), but it's my younger son who's got the Special Needs. I think you'll like this: in early-2010 after my son's big regression (where he lost the ability to speak / understand spoken language, lost the ability to control his bowels, lost comprehension of danger, etc.) I went to see my GP because I was in a bad place. His immediate response was: "How do you feel about medical marijuana?" Isn't he great? I told him I feel just fine but as I drive carpool in my minivan for preschool-aged children I didn't think it was a good idea. His response: "Let's table it for a few years then." So he wrote me scrip for the anti-depressant, Ambien and Ativan, the new millennium's Mother's Little Helper. I've been off them both since the diagnosis. Yahoo!

There's a place my partner wants to visit Astoria in Oregon, and when he told me about it I immediately thought "we are going to visit Marlene!" That trip's not planned but when it is ... you'll know. I can't wait to see you!

amysrq, you made me nearly choke with laughter about my emotional resources. My catch-phrase is "my kids cannot afford to have me crazier!" Notice the "-er," because I'm already pretty revved up. I think I'm like one of those desperate rats used in studies who endlessly claws. If I have to use just my eyelashes I am going to dig a way out of this tunnel.

It's snowing so I'm going to go do some shoveling before bed. From the bottom of my ♥, Thank You all for being here and for being YOU! xo

Brooke, I realized as soon as I posted I had the boys' names confused. I love both the boys' names...S and R's.

..and YES, you will have to visit me when you come to Oregon. You'll love Astoria.

I can't believe what the little guy has gone through since last we corresponded. What a nightmare for all. I think I need the medical marijuana just to hear about it! I can't even imagine how you felt. So, so happy you now have some answers.

Love your skirt. I had something like that when I was your age.

Sweetie....ya nice tile (I love it) but more so...thank the gods you've finally found the name!!!! I know the joy you feel and reading that you finally found the name brought tears to my eyes. Good, bad or indifferent, a diagnosis gives you the foundation to take steps forward. You deserve a pat on the back for pushing to the answer.

I wish you were here to hug...because words aren't enough, even for someone who walked the same horrific road of the unknowing that you did. I'm so happy for you.

Crazy is gettin' on the couch and not gettin' off. Yer gettin' on a plane!

rmkitchen,, thank you so much for sharing knowledge. I don't want a think grout line so now I will know what to look for.

What fun skirts! I love both of them. Thanks for sharing .I had no idea of how much you had gone through this past year- but I do know how much GW and decorating and weeding can be mind anesthetics. Of course Meds help too.

I just came to this thread and those tiles are *amazing*, but I'm also deeply curious about how the idea of Penelope syndrome even occurred to your doctors after so long. What suddenly made them think of it?

And congratulations on the tiles - I love the mix of traditional and modern patterns. With such dynamic juxtapositions, they'll always give you pleasure...but how did you go about ordering them?!

[swoon] How emotional was I just to read igloochic's name? Bless you Sweet Woman for your words. Even though I don't even know your real name I have thought of you so freaking often on this journey. We were at Johns Hopkins and you know I thought of you there! And no, no one there thought to do this kind of testing and knew about Penelope.

GW hasn't let me log on for the past few days, and I've tried on a few dif't computers. But tonight = paydirt! The floor is down and will be grouted Thursday a.m. -- no pics on this computer. I like it a lot! I really miss being able to do laundry, though.

I was planning on smoothcoating the walls / ceiling in there (as I did in our powder room) but on a whim called the plaster men who did the rest of our house. It'll cost less than $400 to do the laundry room so I nearly knocked them down, afraid they might leave. "DO IT!" I practically screamed at them. After the powder room project it cost me at least that much in hand therapy due to the radial tunnel that project induced, plus, and this is not a joke, I also developed arthritis in my Middle Finger. I mean, how perfect is that?!? Of course I love showing everyone my arthritic middle finger .... I am one classy lady!

flyleft -- I was so happy to see your name! I know you are our mosaicist / tile expert, so thank you so much for taking a peek!

So the story is this: I was clueless as to what was happening in our son, wondering if maybe a brain tumor or could this be a transition to Autism? Not a tumor and all the "experts" agreed (along with my gut) that it wasn't Autism. A volunteer who works with my son (he does hippotherapy, therapy on horseback, 2x a week and requires three volunteers and one therapist to make this possible) talked to her neurologist about my son (bless her), and her MD said "sounds like Landau Kleffner."

So she and I got busy researching LK and by golly, it sounded like a great fit! I became obsessed with it and luckily the lead neurologist with whom we were then working (at the Children's Hospital in Denver) agreed. He said the only way to definitively dx LK is with a specialized EEG, so that's what he did.

Well I'll tell you: lightning struck twice. Once for this to happen to my son and then once again because the week before my son's procedure the lead neurologist was at a conference with the lead researcher from Bologna who "discovered" and named Penelope. Our MD came back, did the operation, studied the results and knew immediately "it's not LK but it absolutely is Penelope." I'm telling you it's a miracle.

I have since contacted every single medical, therapeutic, educational professional who has ever crossed my son's path and not a single one, not a single one has ever heard of ESES Penelope. Not even the super-duper pediatric neurological / developmental specialists. That is incredibly telling, and not about Penelope but how much we really need to be advocates for our children / our family members / ourselves.

I told my support group I'm tired of being the smartest person in the room, and by that I mean that I'm tired of steering this ship. But of course that's what we have to do, because lightning doesn't always strike, and no one has a more vested interest than we.

So it's either take to my bed with a bar of chocolate and suck my thumb, or tackle home projects and sally forth. I'm still on the fence which I'll choose ... but since our bedroom / bath are now the only unrenovated rooms in the house it's not as salutary hanging out in there. But when I can afford to do them I am looking forward to a long nap and bout with depression! Ha ha on me.

Oh! And about ordering the tiles: the way I did it was with Lundy at Villa Lagoon, requesting all patterns (no solids) and bright colors. I think it's now possible to order the designs you want from her, so you can be assured of the patterns you'll get. When we received our initial shipment I liked them but I noticed there was no black and not as bright as I'd hoped. Lundy agreed: these tiles had been picked and packed down in Cuba, she'd not had a hand in it, so it wasn't her fault. She then sent me a bunch more tiles with lots of black and bright colors, so it turned out really well. And I believe now she has tile in stock in Alabama, as opposed to having to come from Cuba. That would make it easier to choose the colors / patterns, plus the wait time will be greatly reduced.

What happened?! I wrote you a long reply last night...it was just a masterpiece of g'web brilliance (o.k., I exaggerate a bit) and it disappeared! UGH-I'll try to recreate it when I get back home. I should remember never to try to post when I'm exhausted...I must have forgotten to click through the darn preview again. So more later--really appreciated your detailed narrative--it's book-worthy...

Ah...o.k., the family's out of the house and I have time : )

Your story about the gradual discovery of your son's rare, challenging medical condition is completely fascinating and WOW, what an example of luck being preparation meeting opportunity. You're one of my new heroes, seriously.

I was instantly wondering whether it would be helpful for *you* to write it up sometime when you have the energy, not just the doctors/researchers from a professional point of view, but from a mom's pov. "Lorenzo's Oil" came to mind...writing is so clear and powerful, you could represent your son's struggle, your own struggle and that of folks in your support group, and the doctors' struggles as well. All those groups would be eager and appreciative audiences, IMO.

It's so true--home-related projects we do can be therapeutic breaks for us even if we don't have such relentless challenges as you do. From one person who works in small pieces to another, I think our quilting/mosaic work gives us an experience of making something whole and magnificent out of small, discarded, seemingly worthless bits. I love even more than the tiles themselves the fact that you made a raucous celebration of all their variety. (It actually reminds me of the P&L-seconds tile project I did in my daughter's upstairs bathroom--seemingly chaotic but with a unifying vibe somehow coursing along as a descant, almost.)

This quote from Harpers Bazaar I found while reading about crazy quilts fits your project perfectly: "In the old calico quilts the design was very stiff, and the colors rarely chosen with any eye to effect. Now we are very daring; we go boldly on without any apparent design at all and produce in the end a result which will in some cases challenge comparison with any richly stained glass."

And a tiny side note: I hope you've been continuing to sleep more, too. Chronic sleeplessness over a period of about 6 mos (injuries to both DH and DD) is what triggered my fibromyalgia to take up residence and now it will never leave...

And...of course...do you have a pic of the floor? : )

I just had to throw this picture in the mix. One of my favorite jackets! :-)

I keep checking to see if you've posted a pic of the little encaustic jewels in situ...in all your free time, you know...

Ha ha. That's just what I was checking for fly!

i love rm!

Fabulous tiles! I love the hex tile floor too. Are you ripping up the hex floor to replace it with the new tiles? I wasn't sure from your post.

I am so thrilled for you that you finally have a dx on your little one. The not knowing is the hardest part. I hope the dx leads to much relief for him, and therefore for you and your family. Bless you.

I'm so glad this thread popped back up. My hubby and I were in Miami at the Viceroy hotel (a Kelly Wearstler designed hotel, I should add). And there were these "rugs" outside at the pool area. I snapped a couple of photos.