Your misunderstanding is that the appeal did NOT change the terms of probation. You still had to pay the restitution even if it was under appeal when it is part of probation. You could have asked to pay it into a trust fund or some other instrument under court supervision.

This situation is different from a civil case where you appeal a money judgment. But even in that case the court can require you to put up a bond. In any case, you would be paying interest on the judgment while under appeal.

If you know you have a bench warrant, your best bet is to talk to an attorney and I would guess be careful not to be arrested and go surrender on a Monday morning so you can get into court right away. Getting busted on a Friday night would be a real bummer.