I have read the stickies, but may have missed this . I think you can use BD Miles to book award tickets on VS. Are the redemption rates the same as Star partners I have now read to the bottom of the BMI redemptio table so have discovered the answer to this , and can you use part cash part miles?

No. Higher redemption rates, no PCPM and no one-ways with VS or QR, unfortunately.
One thing I am not clear about, though, is whether you can do an open-jaw with either VS or QR as long as it is within the same zones/categories. My instinct would be to say no. Anybody knows for sure?

No, open jaws aren't possible. You have to travel in and out of the same destination.

Thanks for the clarification, Joanna.

VS and QR are poor value for miles.

Yes and no. Take your point fully for VS (and bmibaby for that matter, but this probably reflects a London perspective), as most of VS's destinations can be reached easily on *A with a single connection.
QR is a different story, to some extent. What makes QR poor value is the point-to-point nature of the award table. If your destination is DOH, however, the rates are the same as for *A awards (although admittedly without the C+M option nor the oneway or open-jaw possibilities).
OTOH, QR is a useful complement to the *A network. DXB is well-served by *A, but the rest of the Gulf is more problematic. Although Lufty do fly to quite a few Gulf destinations, these flights are not daily flights and half of the destinations are 1-stop, arriving very late at the second destination (and returning in the middle of the night for the intermediate point). It is also impossible to travel between the Middle East and the Gulf on *A without major backtracking to Western Europe (OK: there is the SQ IST-DXB as the one exception). This will get better once TK joins but, until then, I am happy that QR is a DC partner. Another area where QR are useful is the Indian subcontinent. Also, award availability seems much better on QR than LH, assuming that BD gets comparable availability to NH.
With the BD new routes, though, it would be great to be able to combine BD and QR flights on a single award.