Frank, You're showing off again!
[
] I love those finish!
Kidding aside, Frank is right but it is in a way different from the original question. The reason the figure came out better on the stock with the stain is because the quilt figure presents various "end grain" areas that absorb the stain more than the face side.
On a clear finish, I would say both CA and BLO works great...but since BLO have more color than CA (yellow), it does the "staining" effect discussed above...creating the illusion that it pops better.
I hope my ramblings make sense.