CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — Two women walk arm-in-arm through the hospital doors. One points through the glass to the moss-covered bra with two owls strategically placed. Its title: “The Original Whooters.” Smiles break across their faces.

“That’s what’s so special about all of this,” said breast cancer survivor Judy Humphrey. “People laughing.”

The owl bra is one of 26 eye-catching bras on display this month at St. Luke’s Hospital Cancer Resource Center in Missouri for breast cancer awareness. Humphrey, 68, led the charge to create the bras among members of her quilt club.

Humphrey, of Lonedell, Mo., was diagnosed two years ago with cancer after a mammogram caught the disease early. She underwent a lumpectomy and six weeks of radiation. “When they tell you the C-word …,” sighed Humphrey, a mother of two who has no family history of cancer.

About six months ago, a friend sent her an e-mail about an artful bra display in another state. “When I saw them, I just laughed,” Humphrey said. “It can make people more aware of breast cancer. And, when you’re going through it, you need something to laugh about, you definitely do.”

So Humphrey approached her club, Bits ‘n Pieces Quilt Guild, which meets monthly in Ballwin, Mo., to share ideas and tips. She challenged them to use their skills another way — decorating size 36C padded bras to display at their annual quilt show March 20-21 at Queeny Park in St. Louis. The less-traditional, more-creative quilters, she said, were game.

Humphrey showed her oncologist her first creation — a duct tape-covered number titled “Red Neck Bra.” The doctor loved it so much she marched Humphrey and her bra down to Mary Ellen Bruenderman, who runs the cancer resource center for newly diagnosed patients.

Bruenderman wanted to display the bras in the center during October. “There’s lots of information out there this month about breast cancer awareness, but this is different,” Bruenderman said. “It stops people in their tracks as they walk by.”

Other bras include: “Cahokia Mounds” in an Indian print decorated with feathers and beads; “These R Hummers” covered in flowers and hummingbirds; and “Sugar and Cream” with sugar packets stuck on one cup, and cream on the other.

Providing women a fun way to learn about breast cancer can help women overcome their fear of getting tested, said Dr. Carrie Morrison, the hospital mammography director, pointing out the 98 percent survival rate when cancers are caught early.

“And what can be more fun than really cool bras?” she said.

On the Web

To learn more about prevention, visit The American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org.