Tony, I use a laser to level out my showers but a level will work just fine. Mark the height where you want the 12" tile to stop. Now measure your tile with grout joints. I do this by laying the tile on the floor, with the proper spacing and transfering the measurement from the shower level line down to the floor. If the floor is level you'll be able to cut all the tiles the same and start tiling from the bottom. If not, take a measurement from both corners, lay out the tiles and mark each measurement on the ends. Then draw a line at the angle between the marks, then cut them. Wedges are great for correcting small differences in the cut tiles.
Also, snap a chalk line on the wall at your marks. That way you can make sure that all your tiles are perfectly level and are at the proper height. This is what I'm doing now in my current project. I've got 200 bathrooms with showers and toliet areas with wainscoating. I set up the entire bathroom with one full tile and the cut at the bottom. That way after that time consuming part is done all I have to do is start stacking full tile.
On edit: Mike posted as I was typing the above. That'll work as well. In my case I've got grout joints that have to match up with my floor tile so I've got to start from the floor.
David
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