Born Bonita Rosella Anderson, in Lafleche Saskatchewan, on August 20, 1947. Her family relocated to Alberta in 1952 and settled on a farm near Airdrie. She attended high school in Airdrie, completed a B.A. in mathematics at the University of Calgary, and went on to complete an M.Sc. in mathematics at the University of Rhode Island. Her career in the computer industry spanned two decades, and after early retirement she was able to turn to her lifelong interest in textiles. Handweaving became the medium of choice -- its mathematical underpinnings lending to the creative application of principles such as symmetry, proportion and tessellation to the structure and patterning of textiles.