Thanks everyone for the comments. I am posting another photo with red as background, white dot lines as another background and the red around the black/white sections (which I quite like). I didn't have enough of the red/white dot to make an impression. I agree it would be great with another bright color as background but I want to keep it red/white/black to keep with my show theme.
I might have to take a row or two of my strips into the LQS tomorrow and audition some fabrics as background.