I love it with the extra. But that's a lot of extra work. What if you just X'd or diamond'd them accross the quilt? One big X or diamond pattern of extras.
So your 10 min was 4 purples & a cream. Then you cathedral'd the cream, inserting a contrast square when you stitched it. Then the cream "sashed" the contrast block.
Wow! I love your take on the block!!!