Inlays with different grain directions?

How To
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I know it is standard in the woodworking world to avoid glue ups with grains going in different directions, but has anyone experienced any issues with doing inlays that have the grains going in different directions?

A friend of mine would like me to make them a rather large tray out of maple with a purple heart inlay. Due to the size of the tray, I am going to need to rip a board or two and glue it up face to face. This will give me the edge grain to do the pocket inlay. I’d like to use some 1/2" purple heart I already have to make the plug, but that would use the face grain.

Thoughts on doing it this way?

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Wood tends to swell across the grain, so it expands/shrinks by width & height more than by length.
I don’t think mixing edge & face grain will hurt if the line of the grain is both the same.
If the grain line is different directions, it could eventually work it’s way loose.
I’ve done intarsia type layouts with opposing grain, I just use a slightly larger clearance between the pieces. (0.020").

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Thanks Tod. I figured it would be alright, but your tip of making sure the grain direction is the same is very helpful.

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