How Shall I Embroider My Yellow Shawl?

Over Thanksgiving I went back to Iowa to visit my parents, who were in the process of moving to a new house after almost 30 years.  Not surprisingly, I came back with many long-forgotten treasures from my childhood, and random fabric sources.  One such treasure was this 18 x 90" strip of yellow cotton:

I used this piece of fabric as a shawl, and it became a vital part of my dress-up wardrobe when I wanted to play Gypsies with my younger sisters.  (The Hunchback of Notre Dame came out when I was 11, and I became fascinated by gypsies for a while.)  It was never hemmed, just had a short fringe from where it had been torn along the grain to create the rectangle.

I have decided to incorporate this unassuming yellow shawl into my grown-up costume wardrobe, as well.  First it needs to be washed, as in the intervening years it has developed a few stains and acquired several black animal hairs - both from my old dog, Chewie, and my current cat, Jazz.

Maybe I shouldn't let her use a box of fabrics as a bed...

To prepare the fabric for washing, I have hemmed it by hand to prevent further fraying of the edges.  This has given me a chance to hone my hand-sewing skills, and I also think it gives a nicer edge than machine-sewing.

This photo - without flash - shows the truest color. 

Next I plan to hone my embroidery skills!  I want to make this shawl my Embellish project for the Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge.  The deadline for this project is February 25, and I wanted to get a head start since embroidery is very time-consuming.  But first I need to decide what color(s) to embroider!

I was originally thinking a floral pattern similar to this, in red and green:

But now I'm leaning more towards all black embroidery for a more dramatic effect.  Maybe some leafy vines like this:

My plan is to focus the majority of the design along both short ends, with a smaller border running along one long edge.  I'm thinking it'll look something like this when I'm finished:

What do you think, oh blogosphere?  What color(s) and design should I choose?  Leave me a comment with your suggestions!